
-^JFI^^ 



Class 

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Copyright N" 



COBfRIGHT DEPOSIT 



To 

Cornell University 

My Alma Mater 

This Book 

Is Dedicated 



COPYRIGHT, ISaO 
O. F. HUNZIKER 



Fred Klein Co. 
Printers 
Chicago 



THE BUTTER INDUSTRY 



PREPARED FOR THE USE OF 

Creameries, Dairy Students and 
Pure Food Departments 



By 

OTTO F. HUNZIKER, B. S. A., M. S. A. 

Author of "Condensed Milk and Milk Powder" 

Formerly Professor of Dairy Husbandry, Purdue University 

Now Manager Manufacturing Department and Director Research Laboratory 

Blue Valley Creamery Co. 

Chicago 



Published by the Author 

LaGrange, Illinois 

1920 



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Preface 



THE PURPOSE of this book is to acquaint the 
l)uttermakcr with facts and methods that will 
assist him in the economical manufacture of 
butter of attractive flavor, good body, uniform 
color and superior keeping quality ; to place before the 
teacher and student of buttermaking the newer knowl- 
edge of the science and art of butter manufacture; to 
bring the investigator and research worker in close 
touch with the real problems of the butter industry; 
and to point out to those in charge of food control the 
possibilities and limitations of composition and prop- 
erties of commercial butter. 

This book deals with the several phases of the but- 
ter industry, from the care and handling of the milk 
and cream on the farm to the table of the consumer, 
with special emphasis of the causes and practical pre- 
vention of the multitude of butter defects. 

It represents the author's best knowledge on the 
subject, derived from practical experience in com- 
mercial buttermaking, from scientific investigation and 
research of the problems of economy of manufacture 
and of production of quality, from the most authentic 
experimental data of other investigators throughout 
the dairy world, and from a profound study of the 
several sciences intimately related to buttermaking. 

O. F. HUNZIKER. 

Chicago, Feb. i, 1920. 



Acknowledgment 



In -presenting the information contained in this volume to 
^he Dairy World , the author desires to express his sincere 
appreciation of the facilities provided and opportunities accorded 
him by the Blue Valley Creamery Company y which made possible 
the revelation of new scientific truths of acknowledged value to the 
butter industry y and which greatly added to the comprehensiveness 
of this work. 



Thi: Butter Industry 
CONTENTS 



Chapter I 

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BUTTER INDUSTRY 

Early history — Later development — Influence of centrifugal cream sepa- 
rator — Influence of Babcock test — Influence of other inventions — In- 
fluence of dairy research, instruction and control — Influenceof cream- 
ery promoter — Annual butter production in U. S. and in foreign 
countries — Number of creameries in U. S Pages 15-30 

Chapter II 

CREAMERY ORGANIZATION, CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIP- 
MENT 

Creamery organizations — Mutual co-operative creamery asso. — Joint stock 
company with co-operative features — Proprietary creamery — Creamery 
corporation — Location of factory— Water supply — Sew^age disposal- 
Type of building — Drainage and drains — Light — Ventilation — Store 
room — Cold room — Heating— Insulation of ammonia, brine, steam and 
water lines Pages 31-46 

Chapter III 
BUYING MILK AND CREAM 

Systems of securing milk and cream — Direct deliveries— Cream routes — 
Skimming stations — Cream stations — Route and station shortages — 
Independent cream buyer — Farmers' co-operative marketing associa- 
tions — Direct shipper system — Concentration points — Management of 
patron Pages 31-60 

Chapter IV 
CARE OF MILK AND CREAM ON THE FARM 

Healthy cows and attendants — Proper feed and water — Cleanliness — Clean- 
liness of separator bowl — How to wash the separator — Care of cream 
after separation — How to cool cream — Age of cream — Protection of 
cream in transit Pages 60-67 

Chapter V 
SEPARATION OF MILK 

Purpose — Principle of separation — Methods of separation — Gravity separa- 
tion — Centrifugal separation — Theory of centrifugal separation — Con- 
struction of separator — Separator frame— Bowl and spindle — Skim- 
milk outlet — Cream outlet — Proportion of skim milk and cream — 
Supplj- tank, float and discharge pans — Driving mechanism — Power 
separators — Hand separators — Systems of oiling — Power require- 
ments — Capacity of separator — Conditions affecting skimming effi- 
ciency — Conditions affecting richness of cream — Advantages of cen- 
trifugal separation over gravity creaming Pages 68-118 



10 The Butter Industry 

Chapter VI 
RECEIVING MILK AND CREAM 

Grading of cream — Development — Methods of grading — Grading by taste 
and smell — Apparatus needed — Operation of grading — Classification of 
grades — Sampling milk and cream — Single samples — Composite sam- 
ples — Care of samples — Sampling frozen cream — Amount of cream 
sample — Weighing milk and creain — "Dumping" milk and cream — 
Can washing — Can washing equipment — Size and construction of 
cans — Rusty and damaged cans Pages 118-148 

Chapter VII 
NEUTRALIZATION OF SOUR CREAM 

Definition — Object — Importance of correct neutralization — -How to neutral- 
ize — Adoption of standard of acidity — Testing correctly for acidity — 
Choice of neutralizer — Preparation, strength and amount of neutral- 
izer — Affinity of lime for curd — Summary of action of lime in sour 
cream — Adding lime mix in proper manner — Effect of per cent acid 
in cream on accuracy of neutralization — Effect of per cent casein — 
Efifect of amount of carbon dioxide in cream — Effect of time and 
temperature on acid reduction — Effect of neutralization on composi- 
tion of butter — Specific directions for neutralizing cream with lime — 
Neutralizing tables Pages 148-180 

Chapter VIII 

PASTEURIZATION 

Definition — Objects — Improvement of flavor — Uniformity of quality — Dis- 
truction of disease germs — Improvement of keeping quality — Economic 
advantages — Essentials for successful pasteurization — Methods — Flash 
or continuous pasteurization — Flash pasteurizers — Regenerative heat- 
ers and coolers — Operation of flash pasteurizers — Temperature con- 
trol — Cooling cream from flash pasteurizer — -Vat or holding pasteuri- 
zation — Construction and operation of vat pasteurizers — Temperature 
and time of exposure — Cooling cream in vat pasteurizer — Flash and 
holding process combined — Cleaning and care of pasteurizers — Ad- 
vantages and disadvantages of flash and vat processes. Effect of 
pasteurization on flavor and texture of butter — Effept of pasteuriza- 
tion on exhaustiveness of churning — Blowing cream — Effect of blowing 
on flavor and keeping quality of butter Pages 180-224 

Chapter IX 

CREAM RIPENING AND STARTERS 

Definition of cream ripening — Purpose — Effect on flavor and aroma — 
Effect on uniformity of quality— Effect on exhaustiveness of churn- 
ing — Effect on keeping quality — Natural ripening — Artificial ripening — 
Temperature — Ripening vats — Advantages of glass enameled vats — 
Time required for ripening — Proper acidity of ripened cream — Over- 
ripened cream — Methods to determine desired degree of acidity — 
Starter ripening vs. cream ripening — Starters — Natural and commer- 
cial starters — Directions for preparation of startoline— Directions for 
making commercial starter from whole milk, skim milk, condensed 
milk — Milk powder — Equipment for starter making — Acidity in 
starter — Amount of starter — Scoring starters Pages 224-265 



The Butter Industry 11 

Chapter X 

CHURNING 

Object — Philosophy of churning — Milk and cream an emulsion — Surface 
tension — Absorption^ — Viscosity — Why cream thickens in churn — 
Why butter "breaks" suddenly — Solidification and coalescence of fat 
globules — Conditions affecting churnability of cream — Size of fat 
globules — Chemical properties of butterfat — Viscosity of cream — 
Churning temperature — Time of holding at churning temperature — 
Richness of cream — Acidity of cream — Nature and amount of agita- 
tion — Speed of churn — Amount of cream in churn — Preparation of 
churn — Sticky churns — Straining the cream— Addition of butter color 
— Gas in churn — When to stop the churn — Churning difficulties. 

Pages 265-310 

Chapter XI 

WASHING, SALTING AND WORKING 

Purpose — Drawing-off buttermilk — Addition of water — Temperature of 
wash water — Effect on moisture content of butter — Overchurning in 
washwater — Regulating temperature of washwater — Purity of wash- 
water — Salting — Purpose — Amount of salt — Methods of salting — Dry 
salting — Wet salting — Brine salting — Types of salt — Quality and bac- 
teriological and chemical purity of salt — Solubility of butter salts — 
Condition of salt as affected by storage — Effect of salt on keeping 
quality, disease germs and moisture content of butter — Working — 
Purpose — Butterworkers — Overloading the churn — Manner and 
amount of working — Effect of working on body, color and moisture 
content of butter — Effect of working on flavor and keeping quality of 
butter Pages 310-363 

Chapter XII 

PACKING BUTTER 

Variety of packages — Preparation of tubs,' boxes, cubes and firkins — Prepa- 
ration of liners, circles and wrappers — Tin cans — Packing tubs, boxes, 
cubes and tins — Butter prints — Packing farm butter — Packing for par- 
cel post shipments — Packing for exhibits and scoring contests — Loss 
of moisture in packing — Cost of packing — Packing butter for U. S. 
Navy Pages 363-394 

Chapter XIII 

THE OVERRUN 

Definition — Importance — Theoretical overrun — Actual overrun — Condi- 
tions affecting actual overrun — Composition of butter — Accuracy of 
weights and tests of cream — Mechanical losses — Examples of overruns 
in whole milk creamery and in farm separator creamery — Unavoidable 
discrepancies in weights and tests that affect overrun. . . .Pages 394-412 



12 The: Butter Industry 

Chapter XIV 
MARKETS AND MARKETING 

Importance — Essentials in successful marketing — Marketing dairy butter — 
Selling creamery butter localfy — Selling to wholesale produce trade — 
Track sales^ — Delivered sales — Commission sales — Contract sales — 
Speculating in futures — Butter exchanges — The call — Butter quota- 
tions — Inspection and grading — Butter rules of N. Y. Mercantile Ex- 
change—Butter rules of Chicago Butter and Egg Board — Distribu- 
tion- — Per capita consumption of butter in U. S. and abroad — Exports 
and Imports Pages 412-447 

Chapter XV 
BUTTER STORAGE 

Time and duration — Distribution of commercial stocks of butter — Short 
held and long held — Storage conditions — Air, light and heat — Humid- 
ity — Temperature — Shrinkage in storage — Deterioration in quality — 
Summary of effect of cold storage on quality of butter. .Pages 447-459 

Chapter XVI 

BUTTER SCORING 

Definition — The score card — Valuation of defects — Ethics of butter scor- 
ing — Method and accuracy of scoring — Value of educational butter 
scoring contests Pages 459-466 

Chapter XVII 
BUTTER DEFECTS 

Classification — Description — Causes and prevention of the following de- 
fects in flavor and aroma, body and texture, color — Defects in flavor 
and aroma: Flat, stale, sour, curdy, cheesy, unclean, cowy and barny, 
feedy and weedy, musty and smothered, garlic, moldy, yeasty, bitter, 
oily, metallic, fishy, tallowy, storage, rancid, woody, scorched, coarse — 
Defects in body and texture: weak, greasy, salvy, crumbly, mealy, 
leaky, "gritty — Defects in color: too high, too light, bleached, dull, 
mottled and wavy, white specks, yellow specks, green specks. 

Pages 459-530 

Chapter XVIII 

COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF BUTTER, MILK, CREAM, 
SKIMMILK AND BUTTERMILK 

Butter — Butterfat — Soluble, volatile, insoluble and non-volatile fats — 
Melting point — Physical structure — Water — Moisture control — Factory 
directions — Relation of moisture to quality — Curd — Salt — Lactose- 
Acid — Ash^ — Milk — Cream — Skimmilk — Buttermilk — Whey — Composi- 
tion of Ash and Separator Slime Pages 530-558 



The Butter Industry 13 

Chapter XIX 

HEALTHFULNESS, FOOD VALUE AND BIOLOGICAL 
PROPERTIES 

"Sanitary purity and healthfulness — Freedom from germs of disease — Di- 
gestibility — Caloric value — Biological properties — Fat-Soluble A — 
Food value of diverse foods Pages 558-573 

Chapter XX 
DEFINITIONS AND STANDARDS 

Butter— Moisture ruling — Fat standard — Butter standards in various coun- 
tries — Milk- — Skimmilk — Cream — Buttermilk — Legal standards by 
states Pages 573-579 

Chapter XXI 
WHEY BUTTER, RENOVATED BUTTER AND LADLES 

Whey butter — Manufacture — Wisconsin law — Renovated butter — Defini- 
tion — History — Output in U. S.— Manufacture — Packing — Markets — 
Definitions and laws — Ladles Pages 579-588 

Chapter XXII 

STANDARDIZATION, TESTS AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES OF 
MILK, CREAM, SKIMMILK, BUTTERMILK AND BUTTER 

Standardization of milk and cream for butter fat — Eight examples—Test- 
ing milk and cream for acid — Factory tests — Determination of specific 
gravity in milk, cream, skim milk and buttermilk — Weight per gallon 
of cream of varying richness — Determination of total solids in milk, 
cream, skim milk and buttermilk — Total solids tables — Testing milk 
and cream for butterfat — The Babcock test — The Gerber test — Stand- 
ard glassware, scales and weights — Testing skim milk, buttermilk and 
whe.v — Butter moisture tests — Butter salt tests — Butter fat tests — 
Determination of curd, lactose, acid and ash in butter — The Mojonnier 
test- — Detection of renovated butter and oleomargarine — Bacteriolog- 
ical analyses of butter, milk and cream — Table of Atomic weights — 
Table of weights and measures Pages 588-665 



ERRATA. — Page 301, Footnote, "coal-tar dies" should read "coal-tar 
dyes." For other typographical errors that may have escaped the proof- 
reader, the reader's kind indulgence is respectfully solicited. 



THE BUTTER INDUSTRY 

Chapter I. 

HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF BUTTER 
INDUSTRY. 

Early History, — The art of buttermaking dates back to 
times immemorial and reference to the use of butter as an 
article of food and for medical and cosmetic purposes may be 
found chronicled long before the Christian Era. Benno Martiny,^ 
in his treatise "Die Milch" and later in his interesting volum.e 
concerning the history of the churn, entitled, "Kirne und Girbe." 
offers a multitude of quotations on buttermaking by the An- 
cients as far back as 2000 B. C. He makes reference to the 
Indians of Asia, the Hebrews, the Arabs, the Egyptians, the 
Greeks, the Romans, the Teutons, etc., as well as to the his- 
tory of later centuries. 

While the word butter appears in the Scriptures on many 
occasions and as far back as the book of Genesis 18:8 "And 
he (Abraham) took butter, and milk and the calf which he 
had dressed and set it before them" etc., one of the first refer- 
ences to the making of butter is perhaps that by Solomon in 
Proverbs 30:33, "Surely the churning of milk bringeth forth 
butter." In the history of Ancient Greece we find that the 
Greeks knew how to make butter from milk. Herodot and 
Hippocrates state that the Thracians made butter from cows' 
milk. Among the Romans who made great strides in agricul- 
tural development, cheese appears more popular than butter; 
however, Plinius refers in several instances to butyrum (butter) 
as an addition to bread. 

The oldest equipment for buttermaking was constructed 
of earthenware. Originally the milk was placed in earthen ves- 
sels and beaten with the hands until the butter granules formed. 
Later a Avooden stirring stick terminating at its lower end in 



1 Benno Martiny, Die Milch, ihr Wesen und ihre Verwertung-, Vo. I. 1871. 



16 History and Dl;vri.opment 

a butt was used. This arra-ngement was subsequently changed 
to a stick carrying a querl consisting of several radial spokes. 
These were the prototypes of our dash churns in which the 
dasher terminates in a cross or in a perforated round board 
or perforated tin cone, fitting closely into the vertical churn. 
It is evident, therefore, that the two systems of butter-making 
by stirring or swinging the milk and by beating or dashing it 
with a dasher, are of very ancient origin. 

Concerning the early history of the uses of butter Hay- 
ward^ reports the following: 

"In early times butter was employed in many ways. The 
Hindoos used it for the greatest and holiest sacrifices in their 
worship. The Greeks and Romans did not use butter as a 
food, but as the standard remedy for injuries to the skin. The 
soot of burned butter was regarded as a specific remedy for sore 
eyes. The Romans also used it as an ointment to enrich the 
skin and as a dressing for the hair. In the time of Alexan- 
der I. certain of the Macedonians annointed themselves with 
milk oil; and Galen records that in many cold regions people 
used butter in the bath. Historians speak of butter used as 
a remedy for wounded elephants, and within a century butter 
was used in large quantities in Scotland and North England 
for smearing sheep, also as oil for lamps. Besides being applied 
externally, it was used internally for various troubles. In 
Spain, as late as the seventeenth century, butter was to be found 
in the medicine shops for external use only. In the middle of 
the previous century "A medicinal and economic treatment of 
butter" sets forth in deiail the value and use of butter as a 
remedy. In rural districts in Germany at the present time 
fresh, unsalted butter is much used as a cooling salve for burns. 

"Aside from its use as a food, a cosmetic, and a medicine, 
the use or possession of butter was long regarded as indicating 
wealth, and so served to distinguish the rich from the common 
people. Evidences of this still exist. In both Chilas and Darel 
a practice exists of storing up butter in the ground. Butter so 
stored is left a number of years, and, to insure its not being 



1 Hayward, Facts Concerning the History, Etc. of Butter, U. S. Dept. Agr., 
B. A. I. Circular No. 56. 1904. 



History and Devklopment 17 

disturbed, a tree may be planted over it. Under these condi- 
tions it turns deep red and is highly prized. The owner's wealth 
is computed by the quantity of butter he has stored up in 
this manner. 

"Butter was enjoyed as a food by comparatively few people 
in its early history ; those who did so use it seldom ate it 
fresh. The general practice was to melt it before storing 
away, and instead of being a spread it was employed to enrich 
cooked foods. Others, even in comparatively recent times, 
used the rancid stored butter as an appetizer. In Dardistan 
peasants are said to highly value salted butter grease that has 
been kept a long time, and that which is over one hundred 
years of age is greatly prized. 

"Little is known of the part which butter played as an 
article of commerce in ancient times. However, an early his- 
torian states that in the first centuries butter was shipped from 
India to ports of the Red Sea. In the twelfth century Scandi- 
navian butter was an article of over-sea commerce. The Ger- 
mans sent ships to Bergen,_ in Norway, and exchanged their 
cargoes of wine for butter and dried fish. It is interesting to 
note that the Scandinavian king considered this practice in- 
jurious to his people, and in 1186 compelled the Germans to 
withdraw their trade. Toward the end of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, among the enumerated wares of commerce imported from 
thirty-four countries into Belgium, Norway was the only one 
which included butter. In the fourteenth century butter formed 
an article of export from Sweden. It may be fairly inferred 
that butter-making in north and middle Europe, if not in- 
deed in all Europe, was introduced from Scandinavia. 

"John Houghton, an Englishman, writing on dairying in 
1695, speaks of the Irish as rotting their butter by burying it 
in bogs. His report was confirmed by the discovery, in 1817 
and later, of butter thus buried, packed in firkins. This burying 
of butter in the peat bogs of Ireland may have been for the 
purpose of storing against a time of need, or to hide it from 
invaders, or to ripen it for the purpose of developing flavor 
in a manner similar to cheese ripening." 



18 History and De;ve;i,opmEnt 

Later Development of the Butter Industry.^— During the 
Middle Ages the making and use of butter in the old world 
gradually increased, but the primitive equipment and methods 
available and the absence of the helping hand of science pre- 
cluded rapid strides in the development of this now great 
industry. At the close of the 18th and beginning of the 19th 
century, the construction of creaming and buttermaking equip- 
ment, other than that made of wood, was beginning to be con- 
sidered and the barrel churn had made its entrance into the 
field of buttermaking. And, after the middle of the 19th cen- 
tury, the creaming in ice water or other cold water was strongly 
advocated. 

Up to the middle of the 19th century the factory system of 
buttermaking was practically unknown and both, in this country 
and abroad, buttermaking was confined to the farm dairy. 
From that time on, however, the manner of making butter 
underwent marked changes, gradually at first, and more rapidly 
as the advantages of co-operative and community methods of 
operation became more and more appreciated and the inven- 
tion of new devices and improved processes were introduced. 

In many sections of this country, especially in the Middle 
West, the "pooling" system of buttermaking became popular. 
In this system numerous farmers took their milk to a small 
creamery where it was set in shipping cans, or other deep- 
setting cans, in cold water and on the following day was 
skimmed by the operator and made into butter. The returns 
from the butter, after deducting the cost of making, shipping 
and selling, were divided among the farmers on the basis of 
the pounds of milk delivered. 

Simultaneous with the advent of this system the gathered 
cream system also developed and became very popular. The 



^ It is not the purpose of this volume to discuss the history and development 
of the butter industry in the several butter-producing countries of the world. 
For detailed historic information the reader is referred to treatise especially 
devoted to this subject. A very interesting and extensive publication dealing 
with the world history of Dairying is the publication entitled "Allgemeine 
Geschichte der Milchwirtschaft, by F. Anderegg, Bern, Switzerland, 1894. The 
brief references to development of the butter industry given here have for their 
purpose more especially to point out the leading factors which were instru- 
mental in the direction and extent of development which this important 
product has attained in the United States, and its possibilities for growth in 
the future. 



History and Devei.opment 19 

farmers skimmed their cream on the farm, usually by the use 
of shallow pans, but later by setting the milk in deep-setting 
cans, set in water, and this cream was taken to the creamery. 

The Influence of the Centrifugal Cream Separator. — With 
the advent of the centrifugal separator in the early nineties, 
originally invented by the German Engineer, Wilhelm Le Feldt, 
in 1872 and improved and made continuous by the Swedish 
Engineer, Dr. Gustav De Laval, and others after the year 1878, 
and first introduced in this country during the years 1885 to 
1890, the creameries installed power separators and the cream- 
ing on the farm temporarily fell in disfavor. The farmers again 
hauled their milk to the creamery where it was skimmed by 
the centrifugal separator and they took l)ack the skimmilk. 
Many creameries, in order to draw their supply from a larger 
radius of territory, established skimming stations in various 
places to which the farmers within hauling distance brought 
their milk. The milk was skimmed, the cream hauled or ship- 
ped to the central creamery and the skimmilk was taken back 
to the farm. Inasmuch as these skimming stations served ex- 
clusively to separate the milk and were not intended for ripen- 
ing and churning of cream and packing of butter, they required 
but a small initial investment. Only a small building and only 
part of the machinery essential for a creamery were needed. The 
cost of the skimming station was therefore much less than that 
of a complete creamery. An investment of $250 to $500 for the 
building and of $600 to $900 for equipment was all that was 
necessary. Thus the perfection of the centrifugal separator gave 
birth to the whole milk, creamery system. Under this system 
the buttermaking industry made rapid progress and the quality 
of the product showed marked improvement. 

In the early nineties of the 19th century the development 
of the centrifugal separator, first successfully manufactured by 
Dr. De Laval in 1886, had reached the stage where it could be 
adapted to practical use on the farm. Dr. De Laval was the 
first to successfully devise and manufacture hand separators 
applicable to farm use. Its introduction on the farms was 
slow at first, but, in the course of a decade, it made rapid prog- 
ress, especially in the Middle Western States. The advent of 



20 History and Development 

the farm separator gradually revolutionized the buttermaking 
industry. 

The farm separator has made it possible for the farmer 
to skim his milk on the farm efficiently and economically and to 
ship or haul his cream, instead of his milk, to the creamery. 

The dairy farmer readily sees the many advantages and 
great value of producing and selling cream, over selling milk. 
The farm separator reduces the volume of his produce, that 
must be taken care of on the farm and that must be shipped 
or hauled to the market, to about one-sixth of the volume of 
the original milk. It means fewer trips to town and less ton- 
nage to the trip, a fact which, especially during the busy season 
and in the face of the alarming shortage of farm labor consti- 
tutes in itself a compelling argument for the farm separator. 
It means better keeping quality and therefore less difficulty in 
the care and handling of the product, because for the same 
reason for which butter keeps better than cream, so does cream 
keep better than milk. It leaves the farmer in possession of 
fresh, warm and sweet skimmilk, which he needs for his 
greatest success in raising his cahes, as well as for hog and 
chicken feeding. 

The farm separator is thus rapidly changing the system of 
selling the product of the dairy cow from a whole-milk busi- 
ness to a cream business and it is transforming the system of 
creamery operation from the whole-milk creamery of the .past 
to the farm separator creamery of the present and future. 
This change is taking place throughout the entire dairy 
belt of the country. Even in the most highly developed dairy 
sections, the natural home of the whole-milk creamery, the farm 
separator creamery system is fast replacing the whole-milk 
creamery system. 

But the country's growing demand for butter cannot all 
be supplied from the limited area of the strict dairy sections 
where the husbandry of the dairy cow is the principal farming 
business. Much of the total butter supply of the country must 
come from the great states and territories where grain-raising 
is the dominant agricultural pursuit and where the need of the 
dairy cow for the maintenance of the fertility of the soil is 



History and DeiveIvOpment 21 

becoming increasingly felt as a dominating factor in the con- 
tinuance of successful and profitable crop production. Here 
again the farm separator has come to the rescue. It has enabled 
the farmer who keeps but a few cows, and who is located in 
territory with too sparse a cow population, to justify the estab- 
lishment and operation of local creameries, to find a ready 
market for his cream by shipping to a distant creamery. And 
it has thereby produced a vast development of the dairy 
industry, and a large increase in the annual butter production 
in the great grain-raising states of the Middle West. 

It is the hand separator also that made possible the estab- 
lishment and operation of the large centralized creameries, which 
now secure their cream almost entirely from milk separated on 
the farms and which gather this cream either by means of 
route wagons, or by the establishment of cream stations to 
which the farmer himself hauls the cream, or by having it 
shipped to the creamery by the farmer direct. The rapid 
development of the creamery business in this country during 
the last twenty-five years may well be attributed in a large 
measure to the introduction of the farm separator. 

Influence of the Babcock Test. — Aside from the invention 
of the centrifugal separator the invention and perfection of 
methods for the rapid and accurate determination of butterfat 
in milk and cream played a most important role in the develop- 
ment of the butter industry within the last quarter of a 
century. 

With the beginning of the factory system of buttermaking 
the urgent need of a method to determine the per cent of fat 
in milk and cream became more and more apparent, in order 
to enable the factory to pay the farmer on the basis of the 
butterfat value of his milk or cream. While the chemist was 
able to accurately estimate the butterfat by the ether fat 
extraction method, this means was too difficult of operation 
and too slow of results for use in the creamery. The creamo- 
meter or cream gauge, in which the layer of cream rising on 
top of the milk was measured, the churn test, in which samples 
of cream from the individual farmers were churned in order to 



22 History and Developmeint 

determine the amount of butter that the respective cream would 
make, and the oil test, in which the butterfat in samples of 
cream was melted out and measured, were successive steps in 
the earlier attempts to determine the correct value of the far- 
mers' milk and cream. While they were distinct improvements 
over the mere weig'hing and measuring of the cream received, 
they were slow of operation and often misleading in results 
and therefore failed to serve as satisfactory methods. Several 
more or less practical methods devised in Europe did not prove 
applicable under the American creamery system. 

Between the years of 1885 and 1890 chemists at the several 
American Agricultural Experiment Stations, located within the 
dairy belt, bent their efforts to devise a method that could be 
readily used for the rapid and accurate determination of fat in 
milk and cream. These efforts brought forth several fat tests 
applicable for the purpose, but the test invented by Dr. S. M. 
Babcock, Chemist at the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment 
Station in 1890, now known as the Babcock test, combining 
simplicity of apparatus and reagents, practicability of operation 
by the layman and accuracy of results, is the only method 
which in this country vv^as adopted for general use. In Europe 
Dr. N. Gerber, of Switzerland, devised a similar test, the Ger- 
ber test, shortly after the introduction of the Babcock test. 
The Gerber test has never come into general use in this country, 
but has found wide application in European countries. 

The introduction of the Babcock test in American creamer- 
ies proved of incalculable value to our butter industry, as well 
as to the dairy industry in general, making it possible for the 
creamery to pay the farmer on the basis of the butterfat value 
of his milk and cream, enabling the producer to test the milk of 
his own cows and thus giving him a practical means to determine 
the butterfat production of the individual cows in his herd, and 
assisting the food authorities in protecting the consumer against 
adulterated milk. Dr. Babcock, with his most valuable inven- 
tion, has, therefore, been instrumental in placing the dairy indus- 
try of this country on a vastly more substantial and permanent 
basis than it occupied prior to the advent of the Babcock test. 
lending its development renewed momentum for the inesti- 



History and Dkvklopment 23 

mable benefit of all branches, of the dairy industry and of man- 
kind in general. 

Other Inventions Assisting in the Development of the But- 
ter Industry. — The closing years of the nineteenth century and 
the beginning of this century have witnessed numerous addi- 
tional inventions and improvements of creamery equipment and 
methods, which have been of great service to the butter manu- 
facturer. 

Some of the more important of these are the introduction 
of pasteurization and of the use of pure cultures of lactic acid 
bacteria, first advocated by Storch of Copenhagen, Denmark, and 
by Weigmann of Kiel, Germany, in 1887, the American invencion 
of combined churns and workers, such as the Disbrow and Sim- 
plex in the early nineties, and later the Victor and Perfection 
and modifications thereof; the invention of artificial refrigera- 
tion, improvement of efficient refrigerator service on transpor- 
tation lines and the rapid development of steam roads and elec- 
tric interurban lines furnished further important facilities that 
helped to make possible the rapid growth of the creamery 
industry. 

Cream ripening by the use of pure culture starters of 
lactic acid bacteria was accepted and taken up rapidly by the 
American creamerymen, while pasteurization of cream for but- 
termaking was accepted with considerable reluctance and has 
become fairly general only within the last decade. Today the 
great bulk of creamery butter is made from pasteurized cream 
and in some states legislation has been enacted requiring the 
pasteurization of all cream for buttermaking. 

Influence of Dairy Research, Dairy Instruction and Dairy 
Contrcil. — In the progress of the butter industry and other 
lines of dairying the Federal and State Agricultural Experi- 
ment Stations, the dairy schools and other educational forces 
and the law-making and enforcing agencies must be considered 
as large factors. Much valuable experimental data has been 
produced in this country and abroad which has greatly assisted 
the creamerymen in improving their methods, in abandoning 
faulty processes, in reducing the cost of manufacture, in guarding 



24 History and DeveIvOpment 

against costly butter defects and in raising the standard of ex- 
cellence of the product. 

The dairy schools have placed in the field, during the last 

25 years, hundreds of trained men annually, whose influence has 
worked for substantial and permanent improvement of the 
manufacturing processes and the extension work done by state, 
government and commercial concerns has been of special service 
in assisting the producer of cream to produce more economically, 
to stimulate larger production, and to improve the quality of the 
raw material. 

The organization and activities of local, state, government 
and international dairy and creamerymen's associations, unions 
and federations have been important agencies in promoting dairy 
interest, enthusiasm and progress. They have been instrumen- 
tal in the formulation and passage of dairy laws fostering the 
dairy industry, combating disease among dairy stock, prohibit- 
ing unsound practices, such as fraudulent testing of milk and 
cream, damaging schemes of unscrupulous creamery promoters, 
and adulterations of dairy products, establishing the regulation of 
transportation rates on milk and cream and controlling creamery 
competition and the sale of butter substitutes. They have 
assisted, with competent council, state and government officials 
in the establishment and enforcement of dairy standards and laws. 
They have stimulated the consumption of butter and other dairy 
products by organized campaigns, to acquaint the consuming 
public with the great food value, unexcelled wholesomeness and 
true economy of these products as articles of the human diet. 

All of these varied agencies of investigation, education and 
control, which, through liberal state and government subsidies, 
and through active and generous support of commercial insti- 
tutions and public-spirited individuals have multiplied speedily, 
both in numbers and activity, during the last score of years, 
have served as an additional and mighty impetus in the sub- 
stantial and rapid development and the permanent prosperity 
of the butter industry. 

Influence of the Creamery Promoter. — Soon after the intro- 
duction of the centrifugal separator and up to recent years the 



History and Deve;i.opmknt 25 

creamery industry and with it the entire dairy industry, has suf- 
fered great losses and has been delayed in its progress by the 
activities of the creamery promoter. 

Grim monuments to the activities of the creamery promoter, 
this scavenger of the dairy business, may be found in many 
parts of the Middle West in the form of defunct creameries. 
Their history, regardless of location, is much the same, and 
their careers have had a depressing and retarding influence upon 
the rational development of the dairy industry. They failed 
because they lacked the fundamental essentials of the success- 
ful creamery. 

While organized under the promising name of co-operative 
creameries, the incentive leading to their creation was not the 
co-operative spirit of the respective communities, but the greed 
of unscrupulous promoters, whose alluring promises of exag- 
gerated profits induced dairy communities to buy their ware. 
In most cases the cow population was entirely inadequate to 
furnish the necessary raw material to make possible profitable 
operation, the necessary operating capital was lacking, incompe- 
tent buttermakers made an inferior product, inexperienced man- 
agers mismanaged the business, the frail tie of co-operation 
between the stockholders was easily rent by unsatisfactory re- 
turns from the market, and the inevitable result was disorganiz- 
ation, dissolution and failure. In a few isolated cases only 
have these creameries survived these discouraging handicaps, 
largely on account of exceptionally favorable- local conditions, 
or of the individual and unselfish effort and ability of some one 
person strong enough to safely guide the ship through the tur- 
bulent waters into which the creamery was launched. In some 
cases these creameries passed into private hands at a great 
sacrifice to the stockholders. In the great majority of cases, 
however, the promoters' creameries succumbed, after incurring 
additional debts, to the natural consequences of the law of the 
survival of the fittest. 

These defunct creameries may be counted by hundreds. 
They have impoverished the communities in which they are 
located, they have caused their stockholders the loss of thou- 



26 Annuai, Butte:r Production 

sands of dollars, they have cast distrust and suspicion on the 
creamery business and discouraged the business of milking cows 
and selling cream for buttermaking. They should serve as a 
warning to all communities contemplating the organization of co- 
operative creameries and entertaining negotiations with cream- 
ery promoters. Fortunately, through the efiforts of the United 
States Dairy Division, the dair}^ departments and dairy com- 
missioners of many states, the country has been largely cleared 
of the creamery promoter. Only in isolated cases, do we now 
hear of his activities and in such cases every efifort is made by 
dairy ofificials to inform prospective communities of the risk 
of their contemplated enterprise. 

Annual Butter Production in the United States. 

Government statistics show that since 1850 there has been 
a steady and continuous increase in the annual butter output 
in the United States. From 313,345,506 pounds in 1850 the 
butter produced in this country increased to 1,619,415,263 pounds 
in 1910. Up to 1870, when the total butter output amounted to 
514,092,683 pounds, practically all the butter was produced on 
the farm. From that time on the factory system of buttermaking 
started its development and in 1910 only about 60 per cent of 
the total butter output was made on the farm. Since 1910 the 
production of butter has shifted still more rapidly from the 
farm to the factory. This change has been especially pro- 
nounced where the cow population is dense and where the dairy 
industry is most intensive, but of late years, even in states with 
a comparatively sparse cow population and where dairying is 
still in its infancy, owing to the ready markets for cream offered 
by the large centralized creameries and because of the vastly 
improved transportation facilities, factory buttermaking has 
been greatly stimulated, vast quantities of cream are daily 
shipped from the widely scattered farms to these creameries, 
causing a gradual abandonment of buttermaking on the farm for 
commercial purposes and confining farm buttermaking largely 
to the butter needed for private and neighborhood consumption. 



Annum, Butter Production 



27 



Table 1/ — Population, Improved Land, Dairy Cows, and Produc- 
tion of Butter and Cheese, by Geographic Divisions for 1870, 
1880, 1890, 1900, and 1910. 



Year and geographic division.^ 


Population. 


Number of 
dairy cows. 


Improved 
land. 


Production for calendar 
year preceding date of 
census. 




Butter. 


Cheese. 


1910. 
New England 


6,552,681 

19,315,892 

18,250,621 

11,637,921 

12,194,895 

8,409,901 

8, 784, 534 

2,633,517 

4,192,304 


841,698 
2,597,652 
4,829,527 
5,327,606 
1,810,754 
1,628,061 
2,249,553 
514,466 
826,115 


Acres. 

7,254,904 
29,320,894 
88,947,228 
164,284,862 
48,479,733 
43,946,846 
58,264,273 
15,915,002 
22,038.008 


JPounds. 

68,699,379 
165,392,518 
424,137,997 
444,724,204 
125,256,293 
136,791,873 
134,876,201 

34,756,687 

84,780,111 


Pounds. 
3,676,609 


Middle Atlantic 


118,339,484 

180,423,449 

5, 286, 968 




West North Central 


South Atlantic 


514, 137 
93,971 

441,697 
2,646,g§5 
9,208,931 


East South Central 


West South Central 




Pacific , 




Total, United States 


91,972,266 


20,625,432 


478,451,750 


1,619,415,263 


320, 532, 181 


1900. 


5,592,017 
15, 454, 678 
15,985,581 
10,347,423 
10,443,480 
7,547,757 
6,532,290 
1,674,657 
2,416,692 


893,478 
2,602,788 
3,962,481 
4. 527, 803 
1,383,319 
1,264,282 
1,634,954 
329,604 
536,924 


8,134,403 
30,786,211 
86,670,271 
135,643,828 
46,100,226 
40,237,337 
39,770,530 

8,402,576 
18, 753, 105 


92,032,196 

233,986,350 

403,208,930 

407,632,767 

92,883,312 

97,999,645 

88,856,542 

20, 499, 029 

54,653,831 


6,958,700 

141,259,571 

120,279,089 

13,667,004 

593,308 

181,.528 

473,381 

4,709,314 

10,222,744 


Middle Atlantic 


East North Central 


West North Central 


South Atlantic'. 


East South Central 


West South Central 


Mountain 


Pacific 




Total, United States 


75,994,575 


17,135,633 


414,498,487 


1,491,752,602 


298,344,639 


1890. 
New England 


4,700,749 
12,706,220 
13,478,305 
8,932,112 
8,857,922 
6,429,154 
4,740,983 
1,213,935 
1,888,334 


822,001 
2,529,060 
3,752,237 
4, 488, 762 
1,369,466 
1,312,074 
1,517,583 
218,689 
502,078 


10,738,930 
31,599,094 
78,774,647 
105,517,479 
41,677,371 
35, 729, 170 
30,559,654 
5,460,739 
17,559,671 


77,240,024 

217,793,692 

327,051,265 

323,491,323 

80,401,070 

84,955,855 

50,347,087 

8,709,349 

35,456,941 


9,107,032 

130,131,662 

93, 779, 808 

16,446,053 

415,291 

177,070 

172,597 

739 976 


Middle Atlantic 


East North Central 


West North Central 


South Atlantic 


East South Central 


West South Central 


Mountain 


Pacific 


5,779,894 




Total, United States 


62,947,714 


16,511,950 


357,616,755 


1,205,446,606 


256,749,383 


1880. 
New England 


4,010,529 

10,496,878 

11,206,668 

6,157,443 

7,597,197 

5,585,151 

3,334,220 

653,119 

1,114,578 


746,656 
2,444,089 
2,990,852 
2,411,229 
1,280,761 
1,145,403 
1,002,037 
124,844 
297,249 


13,148,466 
33,237,166 
75,589,373 
61,252,946 
36,170,331 
30,820,882 
18,985,889 
2,213,300 
13,352,689 


65,934,782 

211,073,290 

240,351,236 

143,103,863 

48,703,330 

51,603,349 

22,605,422 

3,205,759 

20,091,040 


12,202,042 

138,700,187 

78,950,611 

7,581,959 

640 065 


Middle Atlantic 

East North Central 


South Atlantic 




184,538 
92 385 


West South Central 




606; 392 
4,199,671 


Pacific 


Total, United States 


50,155,783 


12,443,120 


284,771,042 


806,672,071 


243,157,850 


1870. 
New England 


3,487,924 
8,810,806 
9,124,517 
3,856,594 
5,853,610 
4, 404, 445 
2,029,965 
315,385 
675, 125 


642,593 
2,190,429 
2,247,683 
1,046,324 
1,001,094 

835,351 

659,083 
83,419 

229,356 


11,997,540 
29,119,645 
54,899,646 
23,509,863 
30,202,991 
24, 218, 478 

6,870,297 
576, 200 

7,526,439 


49,662,325 

176, 248, 193 

156.138,383 

58,262,042 

28,575,306 

27,273,321 

6, 789, 083 

1,348,607 

9,795,423 


16,316,016 

104,047-, 024 

35,889,749 

2,151,998 

252, 190 

509,290 

48,208 

181 035 


Middle Atlantic 


East North Central 


West North Central 


South Atlantic 


East South Central 


West South Central 


Mountain 


Pacific 


3, 531; 872 




Total, United States 


38,558,371 


8,935,332 

• 


188,921,099 


514,092,683 


162,927,382 



— — ^ . — — — » 

' U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Bureau of Crop Estimates, Bulletin 177, 1915 



28 Number ot Cream e;ries 

Table 1 shows the annual production of butter and cheese, 
by decades from 1870 to 1910, in the several divisions of the 
country, as compared with the population, dairy cows and im- 
proved acres of land. It emphasizes the fact that the butter 
industry is by far the most important branch of the manufacture 
of dairy products in America. Its annual output is about 5 
times greater than the output of cheese and its value nearly 10 
times the value of the annual cheese output as based on the rela- 
tive butter and cheese prices in normal times. 

It is further interesting to note that while the increase in 
annual butter production in the United States from 1870 to 
1910, amounted to over 300 per cent, the increase in the annual 
cheese production for the same period was less than 200 per 
cent, and the increase in population, number of dairy cows and 
acres of improved land was approximately 238, 231 and 253 per 
cent, respectively. 

During the last decade or more, the center of the butter 
industry has shown a distinct and continuous movement west- 
ward. In the New England and Middle Atlantic States it has 
gradually declined, while in the central, northern, western and 
southern states it has increased rapidly. This decline in the 
East has been due largely to the wide-spread tendency of the 
energetic eastern farmer to migrate westward in pursuit of 
greater opportunities, with the resulting decline of the acres of 
improved land in the East; the rapid increase in the demand 
for market milk by the growth of the population in the Eastern 
industrial and trade centers, thus absorbing a large proportion 
of the raw material, milk and cream, that formerly was made 
into butter; and the difference in cost of production and manu- 
facture in favor of the western farmer and creamery who can 
lay down in New England his more staple dairy products, such 
as butter and cheese, at lower prices than the New England 
dairyman can produce them. 

Number of Creameries in the United States. 
According to statistics furnished by the United States 
DIairy Division there were in operation in the year 1914 5,463 
creameries in the United States. These creameries are dis- 
tributed over the several states as shown in Table 2. 



Number of CriiamEriKS 



29 



Table 2. — Distribution of Creameries by States in 1914. 



Alabama 3 

Arkansas 4 

Arizona 2 

California 152 

Colorado 41 

Connecticut 29 

Delaware 8 

District of Columbia 1 

Georgia 1 

Idaho 18 

Illinois 216 

Indiana Ill 

Iowa 562 

Kansas 43 

Kentucky 5 

Louisiana 3 

Maine 26 

Maryland 43 

Massachusetts 19 

Michigan 273 

Minnesota 848 

Mississippi 2 

Missouri 39 

Montana 25 



Nebraska 52 

Nevada 6 

New Hampshire 27 

New Jersey 13 

New Mexico 7 

New York 576 

North Carolina 5 

North Dakota 67 

Ohio . 307 

Oklahoma 25 

Oregon 99 

Pennsylvania 445 

Rhode Island 1 

South Carolina 1 

South Dakota 99 

Tennessee 9 

Texas : 95 

Utah 38 

Vermont 181 

Virginia 12 

Washington 96 

West Virginia 6 

Wisconsin 812 

Wyoming 10 



Total 



5463 



The great majority of the creameries in New York, Penn- 
sylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa are 
co-operative creameries, while in the Central West and in some 
of the far western states proprietary creameries and centralized 
creameries predominate. 



* By Courtesy of U. S. Dairy Division, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



30 



Number of Cre:amEriES 



Table 3. — Production of Butter in Various Countries for the 

Years Indicated. (From Official Reports, Year Books, 

Statistical Reports and Consular Reports.)! 



Country 


Annual butter production 




1910 


1912 


1913 


1914 


Argentina .... 
Australia 


Lbs. 
16,617,131 
193,211,909 
201,275,297 2 

2,564,993 
209,152,606** 

26,226,200** 
291,057,156 
142,430,388 
8,174,657 

55,107,360** 
275,286,240 

72,616,750 
359,631,0001 

1 621 7Q(S 47'^ 2 


Lbs. 

20,849,689 

187,194.161 


Lbs. 
22.482,506 


Lbs. 




Canada 






Chile 


2,767,655 




1,924,102 






257,484,052** 


(1905) 








France (1892). 






148,166,757 




222,002,266 


Norway 






58,629,760** 
306,414,650 




70,504,000** 


Russia* 


326,253,150 














dom (1905). 
United States. 
Union of So. 






786,003,489*** 








10,741,000 


10,682,000 


Italy 






112,000.000 


Country 


1916 


1918 


Australia 


Lbs. 
182,470,778 
82,'564,130** 




Lbs. 


Canada 


0917) 87.404.366** 


Denmark .... 


114,400,000** 


New Zealand . . . 




(1917-18) 47,494,720 (Consul report) 


United States . . . 


760,030,5 


73** 


775000,000** 



* Russia including Siberia. ♦* Butter made only in factories. 
*** Bureau of Market reports for factories only. 

1 Estimate of Royal Committee on "Report in Case of War." 

2 Latent census figures which include the "farm" production, 
t Courtesy of U. S. Dairy Division. Feb. 18, 1919. 



CrKam^ry Organizations 31 

Chapter II. 

CREAMERY ORGANIZATIONS, CONSTRUCTION 
AND EQUIPMENT. 

Creamery Organizations. — Buttermaking started at the 
"hub" of the dairy business, the dairy farm, in the days when 
industrial development was in its infancy and when the farm 
was not only the source of raw materials, but converted many 
of its raw materials into finished products of commerce. 

The invention and adoption for industrial uses, of power 
machinery, in the 19th century, made possible economic handling 
of larger volumes of milk and cream and the manufacture of 
larger quantities of butter than the product on a single farm 
represented. The rapidly growing population in our towns and 
cities demanded larger amounts of butter to be transported to 
greater distances, than the neighborhood farm supply was cap- 
able of adequately taking care of. The butter began to be 
exposed to more unfavorable conditions, and more time elapsed 
in its movement from the churn to the table of the consumer, so 
that the matter of keeping quality required more specialized skill 
and more elaborate equipment than was available on the general 
dairy farm. The trend of industrial development and profit- 
able manufacture demanded greater division of labor and occu- 
pation, specialization, and centralization of effort. Business 
enterprise and ingenuity and able financing saw inviting oppor- 
tunities and unlimited possibilities in butter manufacture on a 
larger scale. 

These and many other results of the economic and indus- 
trial evolution of the country were responsible for the gradual 
development' of the factory system of buttermaking, which 
started after the middle of the last century, and which gave 
birth to diverse forms of creamery organizations, until today 
over one half of the butter manufactured in this country is made 
in creameries, and practically all of the butter that enters inter- 
state commerce and that supplies our large markets is creamery 
butter. The butter that is still made on the farm is largely 



32 CRB;AMfiRY Organizations 

confined to that which is consumed on the farm, and by the 
country store trade. 

There are principally four different types of creamery or- 
ganizations, namely, the mutual co-operative creamery, the joint 
stock company with co-operative features, the proprietary factory 
and the creamery corporation; 

The Mutual Co-operative Creamery Association. — This is 
strictly a farmers' co-operative association. Its purpose is to 
pool the milk or cream of the individual members, the farmers, 
to manufacture it into butter and to sell the product, by the 
employment of a butter maker and manager, and in this man- 
ner to save equipment and labor needed for manufacture and sale 
of the product, to secure greater skill for manufacture, to make 
a better product and to sell it to better advantage. 

In the truly mutual co-operative creamery association, every 
stock holder must be a milk or cream producer, he must be a 
patron of the creamery, but not every patron need be a stock 
holder. 

In some cases the buttermaker is employed at a stipul- 
ated salary, in others the association agrees to pay him a stipul- 
ated commission for every pound of butter manufactured, such 
as, for instance, three cents per pound. 

The mutual co-operative creamery association has for its 
object, not so much the payment of large dividends on the shares 
of stock, but to profitably manufacture the milk and cream 
into butter, i. e. to secure the highest possible net returns for 
the butterfat manufactured into butter. 

The amount of money needed and decided upon for build- 
ing and equipment usually governs the amount of the capital 
stock to be issued. The shares of stock usually range from $10.00 
to $10000 per share. As it is desirable to have as many patrons 
as possible that are also stock holders and who are, therefore, 
interested financially in the creamery, shares of small denomin- 
ations have their advantage. 

The net returns from the business, which represents what 
is left after deducting from the gross receipts accruing from 
the sale of butter and other products, all expenses of manufac- 
ture, such as labor, supplies, coal, ice, taxes, and insurance, and 



Cr^ameiry Organizations 33 

sales expenses, and after deducting a fixed amount placed in 
the sinking fund, which is needed to take care of current re- 
pairs, etc., and paying a nominal dividend on the shares of 
stock, as stipulated in the articles of incorporation, may be pro- 
rated among all patrons on the basis of the pounds of butterfat 
each patron delivered at the factory. 

Or, the board of directors may pay for the milk and cream 
on the basis of some market quotation, and after deducting the 
milk and cream checks and other expenses above enumerated 
from the gross returns, it may then prorate dividends to all 
patrons on the basis of the amount of butterfat sold to the 
factory. 

The mutual co-operative creamery association has been a 
very successful institution, in localities where the cow popula- 
tion is dense and where the farmers are imbued with the co- 
operative spirit. It has stimulated milk production by making 
it more profitable, the co-operative service of the association has 
often extended its useful offices beyond the making and selling 
of butter, to the co-operative buying of feed, farm supplies 
and machinery, and it has stimulated community interest and 
general rural uplift. 

This form of creamery is not so well suited, however, in 
localities where the co-operative spirit is lacking and where the 
dairy herds are small, few and far between. 

The Joint Stock Company with Co-operative Features. — 

Many, if not most of the so-called co-operative creameries are 
not purely mutual co-operative creamery associations, but they 
are joint stock companies with some co-operative features. To 
this type of creamery companies also belong the promoters' 
creameries. The joint stock company with co-operative features 
differs from the mutual co-operative association largely on the 
following points : 

1. A stock holder need not be a patron of the creamery. 

2. The capital stock is divided into equal shares. 

3. The members of the association usually cast one vote 

for each share of stock held. 
While it is usually intended to have the patrons own the 



34 Creamery Organizations 

major portion of the stock, so as to have a large number of active 
patrons financially interested in the creamery, and to thereby 
make more sure of a constant supply of milk and cream, such 
is, in fact, very often not the case. Much of the stock is often 
held by townspeople and others who do not keep cows. This 
fact has in many cases proven to be a contributing factor, 
responsible for the failure of the creamery. It has constituted 
one of the weak links in the fabric of the promoters' creamer)^, 
the establishment of which not infrequently was made pos- 
sible in localities which lacked the fundamentals of successful 
operation — sufficient cows and farmers imbued with the spirit 
of co-operation — because a sufficient amount of stock could be 
sold to persons other than milk producers. 

The fitness of a locality for the successful operation of a 
joint stock company with co-operative features depends on 
similar conditions as that of the mutual co-operative creamery 
association. 

The Proprietary Creamery. — rThis form of creamery organi- 
zation refers to an enterprise owned or operated, or both, by 
an individual or by several individuals who have formed a 
partnership. In this case the owner, or owners, usually buy 
the milk and cream outright at prices generally based on some 
market quotation, as New York, Chicago, Elgin, San Francisco 
quotations, and the prices offered are influenced also by com- 
petition with other creameries. 

The patrons' responsibility and interest in the enterprise 
are confined to the sale of their milk and cream to the creamery 
and ceases with the delivery or shipment of the milk or cream 
and receipt of the creamery's payment for the same on the basis 
of its own quotation. 

The profits and losses on the manufacture and sale of the 
butter are borne by the creamery, and, in the case of partner- 
ship, are shared according to the amount of money invested by 
each partner. 

The proprietary creamery obviously does not depend on 
the co-operative spirit of the farming community. Its volume 
is largely a matter of price offered, intensity of competition, 
cow population, salesmanship, and financial backing. It is in 



Crb;ami;ry Organizations 35 

the business to make profit from the investment of capital and 
its legitimate transactions are unhampered by association 
articles and by-laws. 

Partnership creameries have the disadvantage of all partner- 
ship enterprises. Each partner of a firm is individually liable 
for all debts of the firm, contracted either with, or without 
his consent. 

Creamery Corporations. — The creamery corporation is a 
joint stock company without co-operative features. It differs 
from the proprietary creamery in that it is an incorporated 
organization, hence each stock holder is liable only to the extent 
of the amount of the money he invested. This limited liability 
feature of the joint stock company is attractive to investors 
and renders this type of creamery organization popular. Its 
relation to the milk and cream producer is similar to that of 
the proprietary creamery. 

Its unlimited possibilities have attracted and invited men 
of business enterprise and of capital into the creamery busi- 
ness in all parts of the country, and especially into the great 
stock-raising and grain-growing sections of the Middle West and 
Far West, where the cow population is not dense enough to 
make possible the successful operation of co-operative 
creameries. 

This type of creamery organization has lent itself admirably 
to the establishment and operation of large centralized cream- 
eries, who draw their supply of raw material from a vast area. 
It is furnishing a ready and profitable market for the product 
of the general farmer who has but a few cows and with whom 
dairying is a side line rather than the main business. It has 
opened up, and is developing the husbandry of the dairy cow, 
in sections where dairying was formerly thought unprofitable, 
and it thereby has become a mighty factor, not only in increased 
milk and butter production, but in the re-stocking of the land, 
improving the fertility of the soil, making farming more profit- 
able, furnishing the means for better education of the farmer's 
sons and daughters, and dignifying the profession of agricul- 
tural pursuits. 



36 Construction of Creameries 

CONSTRUCTION OF CREAMERIES 

It is not the purpose of this volume to enter into detailed 
discussion and to give specifications for the construction of 
creameries. In the case of creameries of limited capacity, such 
as co-operative creameries, and small proprietary factories, 
such specifications and plans may be secured gratis upon re- 
quest from the respective State Dairy Departments, many of 
whom have published bulletins containing this information in 
readily available and applicable form. ^, -, ^. In the case of 
creameries intended to do a very large volume of business, the 
factor of personal ideas and preference on the part of the in- 
vestor, combined with specialized talent usually employed by 
him, renders directions in a treatise of this type of little value. 
This discussion on creamery construction will, therefore, logic- 
ally be confined to a few general suggestions that may be 
of value. 

Location of Factory: Proximity to cream supply, trans- 
portation and marketing facilities. — The small local creamery 
that depends for its main supply of milk or cream on a very 
limited localized territory must obviously be located as near that 
supply as possible. A large centralized plant, whose supply 
territory covers a wide area, and that receives the great bulk 
of its raw material by rail, is compelled to give first considera- 
tion to suitable railway or other natural transportation facili- 
ties, and to close proximity to large consuming centers for the 
ready marketing of its product. 

Water Supply. — The water supply is a most important 
factor which should be definitely ascertained in the considera- 
tion of a suitable site. The creamery, large or small, needs a 
plentiful supply of clean, pure water, free from pollution with 
organic matter, and objectionable minerals such as iron and 
sulphur. 

Sewerage Disposal. — The satisfactory disposal of the cream- 



1 Mortenson, and Davidson, Creamery Organization and Construction, Iowa 
BuUetin 139, 1913. 

2 Parrington and Benkendorf, Organization and Construction of Creameries 
and Cheese Factories, Wisconsin Bulletin 244, 1915. 

* Durand and Robotka, Cooperative Creameries and Cheese Factories in 
Minnesota, Bulletin 166, 1917. 



Construction of Cre;amerie;s 37 

ery waste is exceedingly important. Unless this is provided for 
by the municipal sewerage system, or a creek or river with run- 
ning water throughout the year, the creamery is compelled to 
resort to artificial sewerage disposal in the form of septic tanks, 
or other contrivances. This is expensive and seldom entirely 
satisfactory. It is inadvisable to locate the creamery in a place 
that lacks either natural or municipal facilities for the proper 
disposal of its waste. 

Even in case the creamery is fortunate enough to be able 
to connect with the town or city sewer, it may be necessary to 
install a sediment tank or separating cistern, in order to prevent 
the rapid coating and clogging of the municipal sewer line, where- 
by the creamery is liable to forfeit its privilege to use the town 
sewer. 

Type of Building. — For small local creameries a one story 
building is usually the most suitable. For larger plants, the one 
story building of convenient dimensions generally does not 
provide for enough storage room to carry the needed stock 
of supplies. A two-story structure for creameries of over a 
500,000 lbs. butter output per year, appears most suitable and 
most economical. Where it is desired to establish the gravity 
plan of arrangement and operation throughout the plant it may 
be advantageous to use a separate story or floor for each depart- 
ment, starting at the top with the receiving and "dumping" 
department, using the next lower floor for neutralization and 
pasteurization, the next for holding the cream in the vats before 
churning and the last and lowest floor for churning. 

Material for Construction. — The foundation and floor can 
only be satisfactory when constructed of substantial, non-rotting 
material. The material for the superstructure is best chosen 
according to availability and financial ability. A creamery can 
be made sanitary without going to the extravagance of costly 
construction. Show creameries, involving large investment, are 
often not profitable creameries, nor do they necessarily symbolize 
superior quality of product. For a small creamery with limited 
capital a wooden superstructure may be entirely serviceable. If 
ceiled and plastered on the inside that much the better. For 
more durable construction, brick, concrete, stone, steel-concrete, 



38 Construction oi^ Creameries 

etc., according to availability, financial ability and general prefer- 
ence may be used. 

Floors. — All floors in the operating rooms should be of con- 
crete with cement surfacing, or similar non-rottable, impervious 
material. The application of a reliable concrete hardener will 
greatly help to make the cement more nearly wear-, water-, dust- 
and crack-proof. On the receiving floor, or platform, where the 
cream cans are handled, inlaid steel plates, materially protect 
the floor against excessive wear. 

After finishing, the floors should not be used for at least 
two weeks. This will permit them to thoroughly harden, a condi- 
tion which means a great deal to the life and serviceability of any 
cement floor. The short life of the majority of unsatisfactory 
cement floors in creameries is due to the fact that they were 
pressed into service before the cement had properly hardened. 

The cement should be carried up on the walls and partitions 
at least two inches or more, forming a sanitary cove. In the case 
of wooden walls and partitions, it is advisable to lath and plaster 
the bottom four to five feet. 

The floors should slope not less than one eighth of one inch 
per foot. The slope should be uniform and even throughout, 
avoiding low places. 

Drainage and Drains. — All floors of the manufacturing rooms 
should slope downward toward the drains, so as to facilitate rapid 
and complete drainage. Large, water-sealed floor drains should 
be sufficiently numerous and well placed in all rooms to rapidly 
carry of¥ the water. The tops of these floor drains should be about 
one-half inch below the surface of the adjoining floor, so as to 
catch the water readily. This feature must be personally super- 
vised by the creamery man, as the average contractor is prone 
to place the drain top a trifle above the surrounding floor, ex- 
pecting the water to flow "up hill". In the larger rooms and 
especially immediately under, or behind the churns, one or more 
open drain ditches in the floor, six to ten inches wide, with their 
outlet to the sewer trapped, by a large bell-trap or other equally 
efficient water-sealed drain, is preferable. These drain ditches 
may be placed along the walls, or platform, or both, in order to 
least interfere with traffic. If located in places over which there 



Construction of Crt5am^rie;s 39 

is much traffic they are best covered by heavy, perforated iron 
plates. These ditches should have a slope of at least one-eighth 
inch per foot, their depth must necessarily depend somewhat on 
their length and the depth of the main sewer pipe into which 
they discharge. It is not advisable to have these ditches more 
than about 40 feet apart, for rapid drainage of the floor. 

The main sewer pipe, catching the drain discharges, should 
be of large capacity, not less than six inches in diameter for a 
small creamery and eight to twelve inches for a creamery manu- 
facturing over 500,000 pounds of butter. Where the creamery 
waste is disposed of through the municipal sewer, there should 
be installed between the drain and the sewer pipe, outside of the 
factory, a catch basin, or sediment tank. This is a tight cistern 
through which all the creamery sewerage must pass and in which 
the curdy material is given an opportunity to separate out and 
rise to the surface, forming a dense layer. This curdy material, 
if allowed to pass ofif into the municipal aewer, is prone to coat 
and ultimately clog the town sewer pipe. This is especially 
prone to happen, where the town sewer line has relatively little 
fall. This catch basin m'ust be cleaned out, removing the ac- 
cumulated curdy scum, at reasonable intervals. 

In order for this cistern to operate efficiently, it should be 
large enough to hold the Vv^aste of at least one day's run. Its 
intake from the creamery should terminate above the surface of 
the accumulating scum in the cistern, and its outlet should extend 
to near the bottom of the cistern. This arrangement will prevent 
the outlet from becoming plugged up with scum. The chief solid 
matter in creamery sewerage floats on the surface. There is very 
little sediment deposited at the bottom. 

Light. — It is advisable to install a reasonable number of 
properly screened windows, so as to enable the operation of the 
plant without artificial light, especially in winter, late fall and 
early spring. 

The sanitary value of natural light in the creamery has been, 
in the past, greatly exaggerated and over-estimated, especially by 
the average sanitary inspector. The tendency has been toward 
a hysterical eulogy of the purifying action of the direct rays of 
the sun. The fact is that even in creameries with a great abun- 



40 Construction or" Creameries 

dance of windows, direct sun rays do not gain access to the 
interior very often, and when they do, the windows are usually 
purposely shaded to keep them out. Excessive exposure of milk, 
cream and butter to sunlight invites rapid oxidation, and deter- 
ioration of the product. 

From the sanitary standpoint excessive light is objectionable, 
because of the difficulty and practical impossibility by any now 
known and really practicable means of effectively controlling 
the fly pest in summer. The flies gather where there is light, they 
shun the dark. 

In creameries, the operating rooms of which are not located 
at a sufficient elevation above ground to place them above the 
fly-line, which is the case with most creameries, the sani- 
tary condition will average far superior in the absence of natural 
light. The light attracts the flies, and the pollution of the 
product in a fly-infested creamery is far more objectionable, more 
detrimental to quality and more dangerous to health, than the 
absence of sunlight. 

Creameries that have made a real study of fly control, have 
found and have conclusively demonstrated by practical perform- 
ance, that the most successful way of keeping their plants free 
from flies in summer, is to darken the factory, shutting out all 
direct natural light and operating under diffused or artificial light. 

In one story buildings, a well-built skylight, with windows 
so hung and equipped as to enable the use of the skylight also 
for ventilating purposes, generally proves a satisfactory arrange- 
ment of windows. The skylight has the additional advantage of 
attracting the flies to the ceiling and keeping them away from 
equipment and product. 

Under any circumstances it is advisable to provide for a 
satisfactory system of artificial lights for operation when natural 
light is either not available or not desired. 

Ventilation. — 'A proper and efficient system of ventilation 
is a very important phase of creamery construction, and sani- 
tary and economical operation. This applies to all parts of the 
factory where work is being done, and it is especially essential 
in rooms where much free steam escapes. 

The ventilating system should be adequate to afford ready 



Construction of CrkameriEs 41 

and quick removal of free steam, to efficiently expel foul air, 
and to facilitate the regulation of temperature. Unless the 
masses of free steam which befog' the atmosphere daily in every 
creamery, find a ready exit, and are expelled from the factory 
quickly, they will condense, and cause the walls and ceiling to 
sweat and drip and rot or corrode, the motors, belts and other 
equipment to deteriorate, and mold growth to develop on walls 
and ceilings and supplies. This is especially the case during the 
winter months. The removal of foul air and the control of the 
temperature of the air are essential for the comfort, health and 
maximum efficiency of the employees and for the protection 
of the product against deteriorating contamination. 

The system of ventilation best suited to accomplish this 
must of necessity vary with the location, type and size of the 
building and the arrangement of the machinery. In the small, 
one-story building, with a high roof, a well-made sky-light with 
a steep slope of the side roofs, toward the sky-light, may prove 
fairly efficient, especially where an efifort is made to place the 
equipment that gives off the free steam as directly under the 
sky-light ventilator as possible. 

In large creameries with more than one story the sky-light 
system is seldom feasible. Nor is gravity ventilation, under 
average conditions, adequate to produce satisfactory results, in 
creameries where there is bound to be much escape of free steam. 
In gravity ventilation, the circulation and exchange of air de- 
pends exclusively on the difference in temperature between the 
atmosphere on the inside and outside of the creamery. This 
fails to produce a sufficiently rapid exchange of air to remove 
the free steam before it condenses, especially in cold weather. 

It is necessary, therefore, to provide for some form of forced 
ventilation. Under certain conditions the use of the chimney 
may furnish the needed draft. In this case an outer chimney 
is built around the smoke stack proper, with an air space be- 
tween the two stacks, and one or more ventilating flues in- 
stalled in the creamery and terminating in the jacket between 
the two chimney shafts, provides the exit for the air in the 
creamery. 

Under many other conditions, however, it becomes neces- 



42 Construction of Cre;ame;ries 

sary to hood that equipment, from which free steam escapes in 
large volume, such as can washer and steamer, forewarmer. 
pasteurizer, etc. and to have these hoods connected with flues 
that are equipped with mechanical fans, preferably of the 
squirrel-cage type, Avhich expel the air and steam mechanically 
through the wall or roof of the building. 

Hoods without forced draft connections are usually not ef- 
ficient and prove unsanitary. The steam escaping from the 
heated cream is always more or less charged with free acids 
which condense on the sides of the hood and soon render it 
foul and unsanitary. The forced draft produced by a mechan- 
ical fan expels the steam so rapidly that the volatile acids escape 
to the outside before they have a chance to condense. For 
satisfactory operation the hood should have as steep a slope 
as possible, at least 45 degrees, otherwise the friction on the 
hood retards the escape of the steam too much. The bottom of 
the hood should terminate in a channel and drip, to collect any 
condensation that may return from the flue. 

Ventilating shafts terminating at their upper extremity in 
a pent house which is equipped with a fan are very serviceable, 
provided that the motor which drives the fan is properly pro- 
tected against the hot steam and free acids that escape, or that 
the motor is located outside of the penthouse. 

In rooms not infested with free steam, but where many 
people are at work, such as may be the case in the print room, 
gravity ventilation, usually proves adequate. In the absence of 
a satisfactory gravity system with air shafts for the automatic 
intake of fresh air and exit for foul air, the installation of a 
mechanical fan in the wall or ceiling is recommended. 

The Store Room. — A spacious store room should be pro- 
vided, so as to enable the creamery to carry a plentiful stock 
of supplies, package, and cans. The size of the store room should 
offer no obstacle to the creamery's ability to take advantage of 
rebates and bargains, by purchasing in quantities. 

In the case of the one story factory there is seldom enough 
room provided for a spacious store room and it may be advant- 



Construction of Creameries 43 

ageous in such cases to erect or rent the use of a suitable shed, 
with rain-proof roof, in convenient proximity to the factory. In 
the case of the two or more story creamery, the second, or 
upper floor, generally serves as the store or stock room. 

The store room should be so located and constructed that 
it can readily be kept clean and dry. A damp storage room 
harbors dangers that may prove most disastrous to the 
creamery. It invites mold growth on tubs, liners, wrappers and 
other packing material and contributes to the rusting of the 
cans in stock. 

If located on the first floor, as a part of the factory, it should 
be protected against free steam, and leaky pipes. If a shed is 
used, the floor should be sufficiently elevated above ground to 
avoid dampness from below, and the sides and roof should be 
rain-proof. If located on the second floor above the factory, 
every effort should be made to keep it closed against the moisture- 
saturated air in the factory. The elevator shaft should be housed 
in and the housing should be equipped with self-closing doors 
in the factory and in the store room. If a portion of the store 
room is located over the boiler room, care should be taken that 
the blow-ofif and pop-ofif valves discharge, not over the boiler, 
but through the walls to outside of the room. The store room 
located over the factory is bound to be penetrated by the factory 
air to some extent, even in spite of all these precautions. If 
this store room represents the top floor and the roof is not in- 
sulated, this air will condense on the underside of the cold roof 
in winter, resulting in dampness and dripping, to the serious 
detriment of the stock stored on this floor. The only permanent- 
ly satisfactory means of avoiding this dampness is to seal the 
roof on the under side, either with matched lumber or with some 
prepared insulation material. 

Cold Room. — One or more cold rooms of suitable size, ac- 
cording to the capacity of the creamery, is a necessary feature. 
Where butter is printed with the Friday printer, or other similar 
printing equipment, the butter must have a chance to harden, 
so it can be cut into square-cornered, sharp-edged bricks. This 
requires storing in a room at a reasonably low temperature. 
Most churnings of butter, especially during the busy season of 



44 Construction of CreamkriKs 

the year, must be held for several days before shipment can be 
made. This holding must be done in a cool or cold atmosphere 
in order to retard deterioration. 

The cold room must be properly insulated, preferably with 
cork board or similar efficient insulating material, at the bottom 
under the concrete floor, at the sides and in the ceiling. The floors, 
walls and ceilings, doors and windows, besides being insulated, 
must be tight. A poorly insulated cold room, of loose con- 
struction and ill-fitting doors, wastes cold and fails to adequately 
protect the butter. 

The cold room must be dry. A damp or wet cold room 
is a prolific breeding place for molds. In order to insure free- 
dom from dampness, the drips from the melting ice or from the 
sweating brine pipes, or ammonia coils, must be carried oflf with- 
out leakage, and such circulation of air must be provided as 
will cause the moisture in the air to condense over the ice or 
cooling coils. 

For this purpose, the ice rack or the cooling coil rack must 
be located over a water-tight pan which discharges the drips 
into a suitable receptacle or to the outside of the cold room. 

Proper circulation of the air is provided by equipping one 
side of the ice rack or cooling coil rack with a bafiie board that 
extends from the drip pan to within a short distance from the 
ceiling. The warm air, which is charged with moisture is lighter 
than the cold air. The warm air rises to the top of the bafi^e 
board and passes over the ice or cooling coils where it con- 
denses its moisture, and the cooled dry air drops down into 
the cold room from the other side of the drip pan where there 
is no baffle board. This produces a constant and efficient circula- 
tion of the air in the cold room, removing the moist air and 
replacing it by dry air. 

Bath Room. — Every up-to-date creamery should have 
suitable and adequate toilet and bath room facilities. The neces- 
sity of this essential is self-evident. 

Heating. — Suitable arrangements should be provided to con- 
trol the temperature in the factory. In localities with cold 
winters the heating is usually best done by the use of exhaust 
steam. Where the machinery is driven by electric power and 



Construction ore Creameries 45 

no steam driven pumps are in operation, and there is therefore 
no exhaust steam available, a low pressure steam line may be 
run direct from the boiler to the radiators. It is not advisable 
to place steam pipes or any other pipe lines in the conci'ete 
floor for obvious reasons. 

Insulation of Ammonia, Brine Steam and Water Lines. — 

The matter of insulation of ammonia, brine, steam and water 
pipes is an important item as related to the economy of fuel. For 
proper and economical insulation the following- types of pipe 
covering are recommended : 

Ammonia and Brine Lines. — 

1st layer of tarred felt. 

2nd layer of 1" thick hair felt. 

3rd layer of tarred felt. 

4th layer of 1" thick hair felt. 

5th layer of tarred felt. 

6th layer of wove-felt paper. 

7th layer of 8-oz. canvas jacket, sewed on. 

8th layer of sizing and one coat of lead and oil paint. 
Each layer of hair felt must be securely wound with twine. 
Each layer of all material should be coated with hot asphalt, ap- 
plied while hot, excepting layers, 6, 7 and 8. 

Special seals must be made at all flanges and fittings, and 
such flanges and fittings must be insulated independently. This 
arrangement will prevent damage to adjoining coverings, should 
fittings spring leaks. 

Before applying pitch or asphalt, the necessary precautions 
must be taken to have the pipes thoroughly dry and the asphalt 
or pitch must be hot. 

Steam Lines. — Air cell asbestos covering, or covering of 
equal insulating and lasting quality, one inch thick on pipes, and 
fittings to be built up of asbestos cement to a corresponding 
thickness ; smoothly finished and neatly canvassed, with metal 
bands at 18" intervals. Before putting on the metal bands the 
covering should receive two coats of asbestos cold water paint. 
Cold Water Lines. — Covering of wool felt, tar paper lined, 



46 Buying MiIvK and Crkam 

sectional, one inch thick on pipes ; fittings to be built up to a 
corresponding thickness with one inch hair felt, the entire line 
should be neatly finished with a graded mixture of Portland 
cement and asbestos cement, and canvas-jacketed and equipped 
with metal bands at 18" intervals. Before putting on the metal 
bands, the covering should receive two coats of asbestos cold 
water paint. 

Chapter III. 

BUYING MILK AND CREAM. 

Systems of Securing Milk and Cream. — The economy of the 
manufacture and sale of butter is greatly dependent on the vol- 
ume of business done and this in turn is controlled by the 
amount of butterfat the creamery receives. The creamery must 
have butterfat to manufacture butter, and the larger the supply 
of butterfat, other conditions being equal, the more profitable 
will be its business. Local conditions, the increasing demand 
for butterfat by manufacturers and dealers of diverse dairy 
products, and the growing keenness of competition among the 
creameries for milk and cream, have gradually developed four 
distinct systems of securing the butterfat from the farmer. These 
are direct deliveries of milk and cream, milk and cream routes, 
skimming stations and cream stations, and the direct shipper 
system. 

Direct Deliveries of Milk and Cream. — In this system the 
milk or cream is hauled by the farmer direct to the creamery. 
This is the oldest system of getting the butterfat to the creamery. 
This is the system that first marked the inovation of making 
butter in the factory instead of on the farm. It started by hav- 
ing the farmers haul their milk to the creamery where it was 
pooled and separated by gravity. Simultaneously, also, the 
practise of skimming the milk on the farm by gravity and the 
hauling of the cream developed. When the centrifugal cream 
separator for factory use appeared, the skimming on the farm 
was largely abandoned and the farmer hauled his milk to the 
creamery where it was separated by the centrifugal separator. 
But the glory of the whole-milk creamery was comparatively 
short and the subsequent advent of the farm separator changed 



Buying Mii,k and Crbiam 47 

the place of skimming back to the farm and again the farmer 
hauled his cream to the creamery. 

This system, whereby the farmer hauls his own cream to 
the creamery has the advantage that the creamery comes in 
constant and individual contact with its patrons. Any disputes 
arising over quality and weights and tests can be readily, quickly 
and usually satisfactorily settled, misunderstandings are in- 
frequent because the two contracting parties know each other 
and in case of dissatisfaction, the weighing and testing can be 
done in the presence of the patron, giving him an opportunity 
to convince himself of the correctness of the work. 

Again, the farmer who hauls his own cream, usually de- 
livers it at reasonably frequent intervals. This enables the 
creamery to secure a fairly fresh cream of good quality and if 
the quality is not as it should be, the trouble can be explained 
and instructions for improvement given at the platform direct 
to the patron himself. 

The greatest drawback to this system lies in the fact that 
it limits the cream supply territory to a very narrow radius, 
which does not permit of material extension. The individual 
patron refuses to haul his cream a long distance. This system 
is adapted only to sections of the country where the dairy in- 
dustry has reached a high stafe of development, where dairying- 
is the principle business, where the herds are of good size and 
in close proximity, where the cow population is dense. In ter- 
ritories where the dairy industry is as yet in its infancy, where 
dairying is merely a side issue of beef-, grain-, or fruit-farming, 
where the herds are small and far apart, and where the cow 
population is sparse, the creamery could not secure enough raw 
material to operate on a profitable basis by this system of secur- 
ing cream. 

The Cream Route System. — In this system the creamery 
establishes routes and the hauling of cream is done by cream 
haulers engaged by the creamery. The hauler collects the 
cream at the farmer's door, where he weighs and samples it. 
The cream route system is the natural outcome of centralization 
of cream delivery. By it, one man, the cream hauler, with one 
team or truck, and traveling over the route but once is capable 



48 Buying Milk and Cream 

of bringing to the creamery the cream which by the direct de- 
livery system requires the time of a score or more of patrons 
and the use of as many conveyances and the traveling of hun- 
dreds of miles to deliver it. The route can cover a much wider 
area and it brings the market so close to the door of the patron, 
that even the farmer who has but a very few cows and can 
offer only a small amount of cream, can afford to patronize the 
creamery. The cream route, therefore, is a stimulant to the dairy 
business, it encourages the milking of cows, it saves the farmer 
the time and equipment necessary to haul his own cream, it 
reduces the cost of delivery and increases the cream supply of 
the creamery. 

Its disadvantage lies in the fact that by the route system 
the creamery operator is no longer in direct touch with the 
patron. It deals with the patron through the hauler. It must 
depend on the hauler to take correct weights, and samples of 
the farmers' cream and to induce the farmer to furnish cream of 
good quality. The success of this system much depends on the 
efficiency, conscientiousness and loyalty of the cream hauler. 
Unfortunately the work. of cream hauling, and the compensation 
for this work, do not always attract men qualified as cream 
route men. The cream hauler who fails to understand the 
principle and to appreciate the importance of securing represen- 
tative samples of cream, or who is so little interested in his 
business that he permits the patron to become careless in the 
handling of the cream, resulting in poor quality, or who, for 
private gain, undermines the faith of the patron in the integrity 
of the creamery, is obviously a costly liability, rather than a 
valuable asset to the creamery. 

Experience with the route system has demonstrated that 
the quality of the cream received from the routes is a fairly 
reliable index to the character and efficiency of the cream hauler. 
The routes furnishing the best cream are usually found to be 
manned by the most efficient and reliable haulers. In a similar 
way the degree to which the route fat checks with the creamery 
fat reflects fairly accurately the performance of the hauler. 
Routes operated by efficient and conscientious haulers seldom 
show serious shortages in fat, the fluctuations are slight and 



Buying Milk and Crkam 49 

at the end of the month the differences practically balance each 
other. But not so with the routes covered by an inferior hauler. 
Here the fat actually received by the creamery is almost in- 
variably less than the fat indicated by the tests of the individual 
patron's samples and the shortages are often very great. On 
these routes the creamery is therefore compelled to pay for 
more butterfat than it receives, the overrun is diminished and 
profits may turn into losses. It is obvious that, in order to 
control these losses and to have an accurate check on the work 
of the route men, the creamery must systematically check up 
the butterfat of each delivery of each route and impress upon 
its haulers that repeated serious discrepancies of this nature 
will not be tolerated. 

The haulers either receive a commission of so many cents 
per pound of butterfat delivered, or they are hired by the day or 
by the month, or they receive both wages and a commission. 

When hauling for a commission, the hauler usually receives 
from two to four cents per pound of butterfat and he furnishes 
his own conveyance. The commission basis has the advantage 
that it furnishes a strong incentive to secure the largest possible 
volume of cream and to increase the number of patrons. It has 
the further advantage that the hauler owns the conveyance and 
the creamery is relieved of the expense of its upkeep. On the 
other hand, the principle of the commission basis and the type 
of men who usually insist on hauling for a commission, are not 
particularly favorable to the stability of the business. On the 
commission basis the income of the hauler varies very greatly 
with the seasons of the year. In summer, during the flush of 
the milk-producing season, he prospers, while in winter milk 
production is at ebbtide and many patrons drop out entirely, 
often causing his income to drop below a living wage. This 
situation causes some of these haulers to quit hauling in winter 
or to haul elsewhere, where the temporary compensation offered 
is more attractive. Generally speaking, the hauler who works 
on a straight commission basis is the most independent and the 
least controllable hauler. He takes the attitude that he owns 
the route and is at liberty to do with it what he pleases and 



50 ■ Buying Milk and Crijam 

since his income depends on volume, he generally pays little or 
no attention to quality. 

When the cream hauler is paid a daily wage he usually re- 
ceives from two to four dollars per day and the creamery fur- 
nishes all or part of the conveyance, or he receives from three to 
five dollars per day and he furnishes all the conveyance and 
takes care of its upkeep. As a rule men who are available for 
employment by the day or month are of somewhat more stable 
type. They prefer a regular, known income to speculating on 
the fluctuating fortunes of a commission. They are employees 
of the creamery in the true sense of the word and as such expect 
to follow its instructions. Their work, therefore, is more easily 
controlled by the creamery and is more dependable. The ab- 
sence of the financial stimulus for results may deprive them 
of some of the enthusiasm of the commissioned hauler, to secure 
volume, yet if they are the right type of men this is usually no 
serious handicap. 

Finally, some creameries guarantee a definite wage and then 
pay, in addition, a small commission of say one-half cent 
per pound of butterfat for every pound of butterfat received 
over and above a certain fixed minimum. This double-pay 
system often works out very satisfactorily, it combines the 
stability of the daily wage system with the incentive for volume 
of the commission system, and makes the hauler feel that he is 
sharing in the profits of the creamery. 

The expense of the cream route system varies very con- 
siderably with different creameries. It averages from about two 
to five cents per pound of butterfat. Experience has shown 
that when the creamery owns the conveyance the expense of 
hauling is usually greater and frequently very much greater 
than when the hauler furnishes it. Careless management and 
neglect of teams and trucks may make the cost of the upkeep 
very high. It is therefore to the creamery's interest to have 
the hauler furnish his own conveyance and take care of its up- 
keep. 

The automobile truck has vastly increased the possibilities 
of the route system, permitting the covering of a much wider 
area than is possible with a team. For the best team of horses 



Buying Milk and CrEam 51 

a route with a circuit of twenty-four mlies is the very maximum 
that can be covered in a day and there is need of frequent days 
of rest for the horses when the routes cover such wide circuits 
A good automobile truck can easily make a circuit of fifty miles 
per day, thereby covering a vastly greater territory and hauling 
to the creamery a much larger volume of cream. The cost ^f 
hauling by truck, when the truck is manned by a competent man. 
the country is reasonably level and the roads good, is no greater 
than the cost of hauling by team. In the case of an incompetent 
driver, however, the repairs may vastly increase the expense of 
hauling by automobile truck. In a hilly country and in a country 
with poor roads there usually are times of the year when the 
truck cannot be used and it is necessary to do the hauling by 
team. 

Not all cream secured by the route system is hauled direct 
to the creamer3^ Many routes do not terminate at the creamery 
but have their circuit at a considerable distance from the cream- 
ery and the hauler ships the cream at the conclusion of the 
day's work to the creamery by rail. 

The Skimming Station and Cream Station System. — In the 
days of the whole-milk crearriery and the use of the centrifugal 
factory separator, the creameries, in an efifort to expand their 
milk supply territory, established skimming stations located at 
a convenient hauling distance or at a reasonable shippings dis- 
tance. The farmers brought their milk to these skimming sta- 
tions, where it was skimmed and tested, and from where the 
cream was hauled or shipped to the central creamery. 

With the advent and use of the farm separator the skim- 
ming station gradually disappeared and the cream station took 
its place. In this case the farmers skim their cream on the 
farm and haul it to the cream station and the cream station 
ships it to the creamery. Within recent years the cream sta- 
tion system has developed very rapidly and today tens of thou- 
sands of these cream stations are in operation, especially in the 
central and far west of this continent. 

The cream station has been a tremendous factor in develop- 
ing the business of milking cows, especially in sections of the 
country with a relatively thin cow population, where herds are 



52 Buying Milk and Cream 

too small, the farms too far apart, and the amount of milk 
produced within the available radius of local creameries is too 
limited to make possible the profitable operation of such 
creameries. The cream station brought the market in these 
undeveloped dairy sections close enough to the farmer to enable 
him to readily dispose of the product of his cows and to insure 
him with a permanent market. This naturally encouraged him 
to keep cows and while milk producing on these general-pur- 
pose farms was a side line only, it became a profitable side line 
that invited attention and development. 

Cream stations which are operated by intelligent and com- 
petent men who are interested in the development and welfare 
of the dairy business, have proven successful and beneficial to 
both the creamery and the farming community. In many locali- 
ties, however, competition has had a demoralizing effect on the 
cream station system, as many as half a dozen creamery com- 
panies opening up stations at the same shipping point. This 
has divided and reduced the cream available to each concern, 
multiplying the expense of handling the cream and increasing 
the cost of securing the butterfat. 

In a great many cases the cream station is merely a corner 
in the grocery store or country store, largely equipped only with 
a cream scale and a Babcock tester and lacking proper facilities 
for the keeping of the cream before shipment and for the proper 
cleansing and scalding of cans and other utensils. And the sta- 
tion operator in these cases is the storekeeper, or his helper, 
neither of whom may have any interest in or knowledge of the 
dairy business. Nor does the storekeeper usually run the cream 
station for the profit he may make out of it. His chief aim is to 
attract the farmers, so as to secure and hold their trade on his 
merchandise. In towns where there are several stores, each 
store may represent a cream station and the cream received by 
each station goes to a different central creamery. 

It may be readily observed that this type of cream stations 
is not only of no benefit, but may become a distinct detriment to 
the dairy industry, causing shortages of butterfat between sta- 
tion and creamery, and encouraging the farmer in the production 
of cream of poor quality. In the establishment and proper opera- 



Buying Milk and Cre;am 



53 



tion of cream stations the following factors are of permanent 
importance : 

Location. — The cream station should be accessible to the 
farmers who come into town from the various directions. At 
the same time, a location should be selected which would ofifer 
good drainage, freedom from dust, isolation from stables, junk 
shops and other contaminating surroundings. Open privy vaults 
and manure piles should be especially guarded against, as they 
are prolific breeding places of flies which may infect the cream 
with germs harmful to the quality of the product, and danger- 
ous to the health of the consumer. Bad odors are easily absorbed 
by cream and in turn are transferred to the butter, thus jeopardiz- 
ing its market value. The location of the station should, there- 
fore, be selected with due consideration of sanitary surroundings. 



t.1 




Testing Toble 



i 




Can Hack 



o Cootinq 



T(i/ik 



xi'-o" 



Tig. 1. Arranirement of a properly eciaipped cream station 

Construction. — The materials used for ordinary building 
purposes are entirely suitable for the cream station. For a per- 
manent cream station, however, the selection of materials of per- 
manent character and not susceptible to decay is a matter of 
economy. The great majority of the buildings that house cream 
stations are built and used fundamentally for other purposes, 
and are selected for the handling of cream after they are built. 
It is important that at least a separate room be reserved for 



54 ^ Buying Mii^k and Cream 

the purpose of handling the cream. This room should embody 
the most fundamental sanitary features necessary in the proper 
handling of perishable food products, such as an impervious floor 
of sufficient slope to permit good drainage, adequate ventilation 
and light and proper screening of doors and w^indows. 

Equipment.^ — The equipment of the cream station should 
adequately provide for the receiving, weighing, sampling and 
testing of the cream ; for keeping the cream cool and for the 
washing, scalding and drying of the cans. The chief features 
of such an equipment are platform scales, sample bottles, 
samplers, Babcock testing outfits, consisting of standard test-bot- 
tles, acid measures, acid, pipettes, cream test scales, centrifugal 
machine, hot water bath, glymol, facilities for water and steam 
or hot water, a wash tank, can rack, and a cream cooling tank. 
There should also be provisions for keeping the first and second 
grades of cream separately and the places used for the different 
grades should be so placarded. 

The Operator. — The operator is the soul of the station. He 
is the local representative of his company and should realize his 
responsibility. He should recognize the fact that he serves as 
a mirror in which the patrons see the policy and attitude of the 
creamery. He should give correct and honest weights and tests, 
and be fair and right in all his dealings with the farmers, so as 
to gain and maintain their respect and confidence. He should 
know the problems of the farmer as well as those of the creamery. 
He should so direct his efforts as to be of service to them with 
competent advice on better cows, better feeding and the proper 
care of the cream. He should be familiar with the conditions 
which cause cream tests to vary so as to satisfy the patrons 
in the case of controversies arising from such variations; and 
above all he should appreciate that the most effective means of 
securing the patrons' co-operation for better cream, lies in his 
example in grading and caring for the cream properly after it 
arrives at the station and in returning clean, dry and sweet- 
smelling cans. 

Station Shortages. — One of the biggest problems of the 
station operator is the shortages which occur between the 
amount of butterfat paid for by him and the amount received by 



Buying Milk and Cream 55 

the creamery. This is usually caused by his failure to remove 
all of the cream from the patron's can, improper sampling, errors 
in reading or the reading of unsatisfactory tests, or possibly the 
loss of cream in transit. The latter can easily be checked by 
comparing the pounds of cream shipped from the station with 
the amount received by the creamery. With the exception of the 
last point, the operator of the station has practically the whole 
matter in his hands. The very fact that many stations are check- 
ing within less than one per cent of the amount of butter fat 
handled is an encouragement tor others to work for a similar 
standard. Accurate, painstaking work at the creamery and at 
the station will eliminate excessive losses. 

In the majority of the cream stations, the cream is weighed 
and tested and the station operator pays the farmers direct. In 
fact one of the advantages of the station system lies in the fact 
that the farmer can see his cream tested and can get his money 
upon delivery of the cream. This feature has its disadvantages 
too, in the fact that it often brings about hasty and inaccurate 
testing and unreliable tests. In some states (Kansas for 
instance) the law forbids the testing of the cream on the day it 
is received, so as to guard against abuses of the station testing. 

Some cream stations merely weigh and sample the cream 
and send the mixed cream and the samples to the central 
creamery, and the creamery sends the checks to the patrons 
either direct or through the station operator. Here, as in the 
route system, the creamery often experiences serious difficulties 
in making the station fat check wnth the cream.ery fat and the 
shortages are usually against the creamery. 

The station operator generally receives a commision of from 
two to four cents per pound of butterfat handled. This, to- 
gether with operating expense and railway charges for shipping 
the cream to the creamery, causes the expense of buying by 
the station system to amount to about from three to six cents 
or over per pound of butterfat, not including the usual short- 
ages in the butterfat due to differences between station and 
creamery tests. 

Independent Cream Buyers. — Another phase of the cream 
station system is that known as the independent cream buyer. 



56 Buying Milk and Cream 

In this case the creamery does not operate a station as such. 
The independent cream buyer operates a cream station of his 
own. Here he receives the farmer's cream, weighs and tests 
it and ships it to the creamery. He sells it to the creamery 
at a stipulated price based on market quotations. The creamery 
simply buys the cream from the independent cream buyer and 
pays him for it, regardless of how he secures it, or what he pays 
for it. These independent buyers are under no specific obliga- 
tion to the creamery, they are not employed by the creamery 
and they sell to the creamery that will pay them the best price. 

The independent buyer cannot be considered a stable factor 
in the creamery business. His investment in the business is 
negative and his responsibility to the business causes him no 
worry. His tendencies are nomadic, he exists because he sees, 
or thinks he sees, an opportunity to make easy money. His 
plans do not contemplate permanency of business, he goes mto 
it prepared to retire from it the moment conditions are not 
favorable for immediate profit. In exceptional cases the creamery 
may advantageously deal with the independent buyer, but more 
often these business relations are of short duration only, and 
often cease when the creamery needs cream most. With a few 
isolated exceptions, the independent buyer cares nothing for 
quality and furnishes an inferior grade of cream. 

Farmers' Co-operative Marketing Association. — Still another 
type of cream station system is represented by Farmers' Co- 
operative Marketing Associations, in which the farmers pool 
their cream and sell it through the medium of the secretary or 
other representative officer of their association. Such an associa- 
tion has been in operation in the state of Nebraska for several 
years. While the principle of mutual co-operative organizations 
of this type is commendable and should be advantageous to the 
cream producer, the actual results of their operation have not 
proved very satisfactory from the standpoint of the stability of 
the creamery industry. This association cream, similar to the 
independent buyers cream, represents a floating supply. The as- 
sociation sells to the highest bidder and the keen competition 
among creameries for cream not infrequently causes the prices 
paid for this cream to be far beyond its market value. This, to- 



Buying Milk and Cream 57 

gather with the uncertainty of securing- this cream, caused by 
the fact that the co-operative association may sell to one cream- 
ery today and to another creamery tomorrow, tends to have a 
demoralizing, rather than a stabilizing effect on the creameries 
concerned. 

The Direct-Shipper System. — In this system the patrons ship 
to the creamery direct. Similar as in the case of the station 
system the great advantage of the individual-shipper system 
lies in its practically unlimited supply territory, enabling the 
creamery to draw on a larger area for its raw material. 

This system has the further pronounced advantage of 
eliminating the middleman and his commission and of doing 
away with the possibility of discrepancies in pounds of butter- 
fat between middleman and -creamery. The cream reaches the 
creamery direct from the farmer, where it is weighed, sampled 
and tested under conditions that facilitate accuracy and minimize 
errors. It also saves the creamery the expense of shipping cans 
since the cream is shipped to the creamery in the farmer's own 
cans and no transfer into creamery cans is reciuired, as is the 
case with the cream route and with the station systems. 

The individual-shipper system combines the simplicity and 
economy of the direct delivery of the cream by the individual 
patron at the creamery, with the advantages of securing volume, 
of the cream-route and cream-station systems. 

Its disadvantages are few. In the routine of business per- 
sonal contact with the farmer is difficult. Except for the hold- 
ing of occasional dairymen's meetings in which the creamery 
representative will meet the farmer, the patrons are reached 
largely by mail only. With a well organized correspondence 
department, however, it has been found that this manner of 
contact can be made exceedingly efficient and efifective. 

Experience has amply demonstrated that the direct-shipper 
system furnishes a better quality of cream than the usual cream 
station or the average cream route. The cream is shipped on an 
average as often as the station or route gets it so that there is 
not much preference, if any, from the point of view of the age 
of the cream. The cream coming to the creamery direct and 
without being held up and transferred in the cream station, where 



58 Buying Mii,k and Cream 

it is often exposed to very unfavorable temperature conditions, 
and where good cream is frequently mixed with cream of inferior 
quality, is a strong- factor in favor of direct-shipper cream. 

Again, the central creamery is better equipped with ade- 
quate can washing-, rinsing, sterilizing and drying facilities than 
most of the cream stations. This insures clean cans for the 
direct-shipper patron while the station patron often gets cans 
that are in very unsanitary condition. The bad efifect on the 
quality of the cream of an unclean can in itself is serious, but 
the moral effect such cans have on the patron is of even greater 
significance. The patron who finds that his can which he takes 
back from the station is unclean and has a foul odor, loses 
interest in his own care of the cream. He realizes the hopeless- 
ness of his efforts to furnish the station with good cream when 
he has to store and haul that cream in contaminated cans. And 
the station operator's gospel of sanitation under such conditions 
falls on deaf ears. 

Concentration Points. — Some creameries receiving their 
cream by the direct-shipper system establish and operate so-called 
concentration points, to which the farmers ship their cream and 
from which it is shipped by the creamery company to the cen- 
tral factory. 

These concentration points usually are fully equipped and 
efficiently manned plants for the grading, weighing, sampling, 
testing and cooling of the cream, for the washing and sterilizing 
of the shipping cans and for the soliciting of cream from the 
farmers. They differ principally from the cream stations, in 
that the concentration point pays direct-shipper prices for but- 
terfat, and that most of its cream supply arrives by rail. 

The concentration point, similar to the cream station, has 
for its purpose the extension of the cream supply territory, the 
increase of volume. Its inevitable draw-back is that it tends to 
jeopardize the quality of the cream. The cream arriving at the 
concentration point has already been exposed to the trials of 
rail shipping once, and its delay at this point together with that 
of reshipping prolongs its journey from farm to factory. The 
effect of these delays is especially noticeable during hot weather, 
often resulting in many yeasty and foamy cans. Unless suitable 



Buying Mii^k and Cream 59 

and adequate provision is made for the prompt cooling and keep- 
ing cool of the cream at the concentration point, such cream is 
difficult to handle when it arrives at the creamery and is liable 
to depreciate the quality of the butter. 

The concentration point also has to deal with losses of but- 
terfat due to shortages between its tests and the creamery tests 
and due to spilling. This, together with the high prices paid 
for this cream, often renders the cost of the butterfat unduly 
high and the manufacture of butter from it unprofitable. In 
short the concentration point, similar to the cream station, tends 
to increase the cost of the finished butter and to lower its quality. 

Management of the Patron. — The patron is the foundation 
of the creamery business in a similar sense as the cow is the 
foundation of the dairy business. Without patrons there is no 
raw material, no milk and cream, and without raw material 
there can be no butter. The management of the patron in its 
fullest sense involves the successful solution of the following 
important problems : 

1. The creamery must satisfy the patron with the price he 
is oflfered for his butterfat in order to successfully solicit his 
business. 

It is reasonable to predict that the policy which, in the 
long run will attract and satisfy the largest number of patrons, 
and that will stand the test of time, is for the creamery to pay 
the highest price for butterfat possible, consistent with a well 
managed and legitimately operated business, and allowing for 
a reasonable creamery profit, together with skill in salesmanship, 
perseverance and effi.ciency of service. 

2. The creamery must secure the patron's confidence in 
its honesty and integrity in order to maintain his patronage. 
This can only be accomplished by honest and accurate weights 
and tests, and it is greatly facilitated by giving the patron the 
benefit of the doubt in cases of controversies where there is no 
indication of intentional dishonesty on the part of the patron. 

3. The creamery must interest him in, and enthuse him over, 
his business in order to induce him to produce more and to 
improve quality. 



60 Care oe Milk and CrKam on Farm 

4. The creamery must educate the patron in larger and more 
economical production and in the proper care of his product. 
The fundamental lesson in better care of cream lies in cream 
grading" and paying on the basis of quality. 

Chapter IV. 

CARE OF MILK AND CREAM ON THE FARM 

The cardinal requisites in the production of wholesome and 
good-flavored milk and cream are : 

Healthy cows and attendants. 

Wholesome feed and pure water. 

Absence of feeds and weeds that produce objectionable 
flavors and odors. 

Reasonable attention to cleanliness. 

Prompt cooling. 

Frequent deliveries. 

Protection in transportation. 

Milk from Healthy Cows and Attendants. — Milk from cows 
suffering from specific bovine diseases, such as tuberculosis, foot 
and mouth disease, infectious abortion, udder diseases, etc., is un- 
safe for consumption and manufacture because of its danger of 
containing the germs of these diseases. Milk or cream from such 
cows jeopardizes the health and life of the consumer, unless 
rendered harmless by proper pasteurization. 

Cows that suffer from specific disease, and cows that are 
in poor physical condition such as often is the case with cows, 
poorly fed, fed unwholesome feed, that receive polluted 
water, or cows suffering from inclement weather or that are 
pestered with flies or other insects, or cows that are in feverish 
condition, may and often do produce milk with abnormal 
chemical and physiological properties, which in themselves may 
be harmful to the consumer or which may impair the flavor and 
marketable properties of the product. 

Milk secretion is a physiological function. If this function 
is abnormal the properties of the resulting product — milk — may 
also be and often are abnormal. Any condition which materially 
disturbs the physiological functions of the animal, therefore, is 



Cark of Mii^k and Cream on Farm 61 

prone also to disturb the healthfulness and the chemical and 
physiological character of the milk and the products manu- 
factured from it. 

It is obvious that, if milk and its products are to be free 
from germs of infectious, or contagious human disease, the at- 
tendants of the cows must be in healthy condition and must not 
associate with persons suffering from such diseases. The use of 
water for washing and rinsing milk utensils, that comes from a 
polluted well, or similar source of infection, further jeopardizes 
the safety of milk. 

Proper Feed and Water. — Outside of the unfavorable effect 
of moldy and decayed feed on the health of the cows, such feeds 
are prone to impart to milk and its products undesirable flavors 
characteristic of these defects. Thus moldy straw and hay, 
moldy or sour silage and grain, decayed roots, etc., lend milk and 
its products objectionable flavors which injure their market value. 

Certain feeds, when fed in excessive quantities, such as 
silage, rye pasture, beets, turnips, cabbage, etc., give milk, cream 
and butter, flavors which are not desired. The danger from 
these feed flavors may be greatly minimized by feeding such 
feeds, four to six hours before milking. 

Certain weeds, especially wild onions, garlic and leeks, im- 
part to milk, cream and butter a most intense and obnoxious 
onion flavor, which is very difficult to remove from these prod- 
ucts. These flavors usually appear in milk and cream in Spring 
and -Fall, due to the cows having access to pastures which are 
infested with these weeds, at a time when the pastures are not 
sufficiently advanced, or have dried up too much, to satisfy the 
cows, causing them to feed on anything green they can find. 
The surest way to prevent this flavor in milk, cream and 
butter is to completely eradicate these weeds from the pastures 
by burning, plowing up and rotation of crops as recommended by 
the U. S. Department of Agriculture Farmers' Bulletin 610. 
When this is not possible the removal of the cows from such 
pastures either to garlic-free pastures or to the barn-yard, from 
4 to 6 hours before milking them, will greatly minimize this 
objectionable flavor in milk, cream and butter. 



62 Care of Mii.k and Cream on Farm 

Cleanliness. — Filth and manure, when they gain access to 
milk and cream, pollute these products with their re- 
spective odors and flavors. They further contaminate them with 
diverse species of bacteria, which ferment the product, decompos- 
ing one or more of its ingredie'nts, producing objectionable odors 
and flavors and yielding ferments, such as enzymes, which in turn 
have the power of decomposing the product and deteriorating it 
in storage. 

In order to avoid unnecessary contamination of milk, cream 
and butter, these products should be produced and handled under 
cleanly conditions. The barnyard should be kept dry and free 
from manure so that the cows are not compelled to wade knee- 
deep in mud before they enter the stable. The stable must be 
kept free from abnormal accumulation of dirt, and manure; the 
manure must be removed at least once daily ; the bedding must 
be clean and the stable must be sufficiently ventilated to eliminate 
strong animal and manure odors; the floors should be sprinkled 
with water before sweeping and the sweeping must be done 
several hours before milking, so as to give the dust in the air 
a chance to settle before the milk is exposed to the stable air. 

The cows must be kept clean, by preventing them from 
lying down on a filthy floor and their udder and flanks should be 
wiped ofif with a clean, damp cloth before milking commences ; 
the currying of the cows should be done after and not before 
milking. 

The milker must be embued with a sufficient sense of clean- 
liness and decency, to milk with clean, dry hands and to protect 
the milk from undue contamination wath dust, dirt and other 
impurities. 

If machine milking is practised the teat cups and rubber 
tubes should be thoroughly washed and soaked between milk- 
ings in a solution of a suitable disinfectant, and the pulsators, 
pails and acceessories must be regularly washed and scalded. 

The utensils must be clean and as nearly sterile as possible. 
For this all pails, dippers, strainers, coolers, etc., should be rinsed 
with cold or hike warm water, washed thoroughly with hot 
water, containing some washing powder and then scalded with 
boiling hot water, or steamed if steam is available. 



Care 01^ Milk and Cre;am on I^arm 



63 



Cleanliness of Separator. — The cream separator is a collector 
of many of the impurities contained in milk. These impurities 
are found in the separator slime which deposits on the wall and 
between the internal contrivances of the bowl. The separator 
slime consists largely of viscous nitrogenous matter contained in 
the milk, and a large portion of the dust, dirt and bacteria 
which may have reached the milk during its process of produc- 
tion. In addition to the separator slime, the bowl, at the end 
of the separation, contains remnants of milk, skim milk and 
cream, all of which are prone to decompose and ferment unless 
removed promptly. If not washed and freed from all these im- 
purities and remnants of milk of the pre^'ious separation, the 

separator bowl becomes a 
seat of contamination and 
the source of unclean, un- 
wholesome and filthy 
cream, the disastrous con- 
sequences of which no 
subsecjuent care or treat- 
ment of the cream can 
overcome. Not only 

should the separator bowl 
be washed after each sep- 
aration, but the washing 
must be thorough. The 
most aggravated cases of 
unsanitary and unclean 
cream, result from the use 
of separators, the bowls of 
which are never washed en- 
tirely clean and, while no 
large amount of filth is left 
on them, they contain just 
enough of old and decomposing matter to expose the cream of 
each separation to bad odors and to infection with germs capable 
of producing very undesirable fermentions and flavors, which are 
responsible for butter of inferior quality. 

How to Wash the Separator. — After each separation flush 
out the bowl, while still running, thoroughly with water until 




Fig". 2. This bowl was flushed after use. If 
not taken apart and washed it will be 
foul-smelling- at the next separation 



64 



Caru of Milk and Cream on Farm 



the discharge from the skim milk spout is clear. This removes 
most of the remnants of milk and cream and loosens the separa- 
tor slime in the bowl, making subsequent- washing easy. Take 
the bowl apart and wash with brush and hot water containing 
some good washing powder or other alkali, all parts of the bowl, 
bowl cover, discharge spouts, float, supply tank and buckets. 
Rinse them with scalding hot water and steam them if steam 
is available. Allow them to drain in a clean place, protected from 




Fig*. 3. Bowl immediately after separation 



dust and flies. All other milk utensils should receive similar 
treatment. Do this after each separation. 

A clean separator will also skim more closely, as ex- 
plained in the chapter on the separation of milk, and the sep- 
arator will last longer, because the acids formed by the decompos- 
ing impurities in the bowl tend to corrode the bowl and internal 
contrivances and to shorten the life of the separator. 

Care of Cream After Separation. — The cream should always 
be cooled immediately as it comes from the separator. The com- 
mon practise of placing the cream in the cellar for this purpose 
is undesirable. Cream so stored is prone to contain a so-called 
cellar odor, which is antagonistic to the flavor of good butter. 



Care of Milk and Cream on Farm 65 

Again, by setting- the cream can or crock in the cellar, the cooling 
will be slow and not rapid enough to insure good flavor. The 
animal heat in it, unless removed by prompt cooling, gives it a 
peculiar smothered flavor which often follows the cream into the 
butter. 

The warm cream is in ideal condition for bacterial decompo- 
sition and spoiling. If promptly and properly cooled the activity 
of the bacteria and other ferments is retarded, if not entirely 
checked, and the cream will keep sweet and in good condition 
for a reasonable length of time. The lower the temperature to 
which it is cooled, the longer will' it keep in normal condition. 
Cooling to the temperature of the water available on the average 
farm alone greatly retards bacterial action. The cream should 
be cooled at once after it leaves the separator. The beneficial 
effect then is greatest. If the cooling is delayed until fermenta- 
tions have commenced, the life of the cream is greatly shortened ; 
for once started, fermentations are checked with difficulty. 

When promptly cooled and frequently stirred, the cream re- 
mains in proper mechanical condition so that it can be readily 
transferred without excessive loss due to sticking to the can. 
This also makes possible the taking of representative samples 
therefrom, which in turn is the foundation for accurate tests. One 
of the fundamental causes of irregular and incorrect cream tests 
lies in the poor mechanical condition of the cream when sampled. 
It is difficult to take a correct sample from cream that has not 
been cooled promptly and properly, nor stirred frequently, or 
that is otherwise in poor condition. 

How to Cool Cream. — The only practical way to cool cream 
promptly and to successfully control the temperature under aver- 
age farm conditions is to set the cream cans in a properly in- 
sulated tank filled with cold water. The heat conductivity of 
water is twenty one times as great as that of air. This means 
that by setting the cans in water the cream will be cooled twenty 
one times as fast as by letting them stand in the air at the 
same temperature. The tank used for cooling the cream should 
be deep enough to allow the water to cover the cans at least 
as far up as the cream will reach when the can is full. It should 



66 



Care; ok Mii.k and Cream on !F*arm 




Figr. 4. A practical cream cooling' tank 

Courtesy of Independent Silo Co. 



be larg-e enough to hold 
a sufficient body of water 
to avoid too rapid warm- 
ing up of the water when 
the tank is opened in hot 
weather. It should be 
sufficiently insulated to 
hold the temperature 
within a few degrees for 
eight to twelve hours. It 
should provide for one 
can for the warm cream 
and one can for the cooled 
cream ;warm cream should 
never he poured into cold 
cream. The warm cream 
should be cooled first before mixing with the cold cream, other- 
wise the mixture will spoil rapidly. Aside from cooling the 
cream and keeping it cool, the cream cooling tank furnishes a 
desirable place for the storage of cream, protecting it against 
contaminating odors, dust, dirt, flies, gnats and rodents. The 
cream should be covered so as to prevent these contamina- 
tions. Cream stored in the cellar, the dry pit, or other similar 
places may become infected with insects and other life, that 
render it unfit for any purpose. The same precautions should 
be taken in the storage of milk. 

There are now available on the market numerous suitable 
and practical cream cooling tanks for this purpose. The use of 
these tanks, not only helps to preserve the quality of the cream, 
but it also simplifies and economizes the labor of handling the 
cream. 



Age of Cream. — Generally speaking, the closer the churn is 
placed to the cow, the better the prospects of a high quality of 
butter. 

Cream is a highly perishable product. Like other similar 
food products it is best when fresh and should, therefore, be 
marketed, or used for manufacture, as early as possible after 



Care of Mii,k and Cream on Farm 67 

it escapes from the separator. Age will g-radually deteriorate 
cream under any condition. While proper care retards such 
deterioration it cannot entirely prevent it, hence, if intended 
for the sweet-cream trade it should be delivered daily ; il 
butter is made on the farm the churning should be sufficiently 
frequent to avoid the necessity of using stale cream. If sent 
to the creamery, deliveries should be made two to three times 
per week or oftener. Excessive age of cream is one of the arch 
enemies of the butter industry, because it paralizes largely all 
other efforts to improve the quality of the butter. 

Protection of Cream in Transit. — The cream cans should be 
kept in the cooling tank until they leave the farm. While on 
the road they should be properly protected against excessive 
heat in summer and cold in winter. While hauled to the 
creamery or station this may be effectively done by covering the 
cans with a wet blanket in summer and a dry blanket in winter. 
For shipping long distances the use of insulated cans, or cans over 
which a jacket has been slipped, is desirable. In the absence 
of this practise a tank with cool water should be provided at the 
station in the summer and the cream should be shipped in iced 
cars during the hot summer months. These precautions are as 
yet very largely ignored, both by the shipper and by the railway 
and express companies and it is to be hoped that, with the future 
development and more intensive practises of cream transporta- 
tion, this important phase may receive its due share of attention. 

Another feature of transportation which has had an un- 
favorable influence on quality, is the difficulty of insuring a 
prompt return of the empty cans to the farmer. For reasons 
which have not as yet been satisfactorily explained, the return 
of the empties has been consistently neglected by some trans- 
portation companies, causing these cans to reach the farmer 
frequently after weeks of delays and misshipment. The empty 
can should receive the same attention as the full can. It should 
be considered perishable merchandise, for if it is not returned 
to the farmer promptly, he has no means to ship the cream which 
has been accumulating on the farm, causing this cream to spoil, 



68 The Sepaeation of Milk 

Chapter V. 
THE SEPARATION OF MILK. 

Purpose. — The purpose of separating milk is to obtain 
cream. Cream is that portion of milk which contains a relatively 
large proportion of its butterfat. In order to comply with the 
legal Federal standard, cream must contain not less than 18 
per cent of butter fat. 

The chief objects of using cream for butter making, instead 
of churning milk, are first to reduce the volume of the fluid to be 
churned and therefore to increase the capacity of the churn and 
to reduce the labor and expense of churning; second to facilitate 
the speed of churning; the richer the fluid- is in butter fat, the 
more readily do the fat globules unite into granules and the 
shorter the time required for churning; third to increase the ex- 
haustiveness of churning; milk or thin cream do not churn out 
exhaustively, because the large volume of intervening liquid pre- 
vents many of the fat globules, especially the small ones, from 
uniting, thereby causing a relatively large number of these 
globules to remain unchurned, to pass into the buttermilk and 
to result in excessive loss of fat and a correspondingly small 
churn yield. The churning of milk and thin cream further aug- 
ments the loss of fat because it yields large volumes of butter 
milk, thereby increasing the pounds of fat lost. 

Aside from the advantages of churning cream instead of 
milk, large volumes of cream are separated for purposes other 
than buttermaking, such as for table use, ice cream making, the 
manufacture of whipped cream, etc. 

Principle of Separation. — The separation of cream from milk 
is based on the principle that the butter fat is lighter than the 
other constituents of milk. At 60 degrees F. the specific gravity 
of average milk is about 1.032, that of butterfat about .93 and 
that of skim milk about 1.037. The fat globules, containing the 
butterfat, therefore, yield to the gravity force and rise to the 
surface. 

The principal agent retarding or preventing their upward 
passage is the viscosity of the milk, which is largely due to its 



Thu Sh;paration of Milk 69 

albuminoids, the casein, albumin, fibrin, globulin and other 
similar constituents of a colloid nature inherent in milk and 
cream, and to the milk sugar. If the viscosity of milk were no 
greater than that of water, the fat globules would rise to the 
surface instantaneously in a similar manner as oil poured 
into water rises to the surface. 

In the separation of cream considerable portions of the 
water and of the non-fatty solids of the milk are carried into 
the cream. Generally speaking, the relation of solids not fat 
to water in the cream is approximately the same as it is in milk. 
The per cent of solids not fat in cream, however, is lower than 
the per cent of solids not fat in milk, it varies inversely with the 
per cent of fat. The higher the per cent of fat, the lower the 
per cent of solids not fat. For further details on the composi- 
tion of cream see "Composition of Cream," Chapter XVIII. 

Methods of Separation. — The separation of milk, as practiced 
on the farm and in the factory, is accomplished either by gravity 
or by centrifugal force. In the application of these two funda- 
mental systems of separation the following methods are used : 

shallow pan method 
deep-setting method 
water-dilution (or hydraulic) method 
farm cream separator 
power cream separator 

Separation by Gravity. — The milk is set at rest in a cool 
place until most of the fat has risen to the surface forming a 
layer of cream. The fat globules rise to the surface because of 
the fact that they are lighter than the other liquid and solid con- 
stituents of the milk. 

The Shallow Pan Method. — The milk, preferably fresh from 
the cow, is poured into a shallow pan usually, though not neces- 
sarily, 15 to 25 inches in diameter and about 4 inches deep. The 
pan is placed into a cool place, such as the cellar or it may be 
set in water. After 36 hours practically all of the fat capable of 
rising to the surface by this method will have come to the sur- 
face and the layer of cream thus formed is then skimmed ofif with 
a spoon, ladle or specially constructed skimmer. The skim milk 
usually contains about .5 to .6 per cent fat. 



Gravity separation 
Centrifugal separation 



70 Centrifugai, Separation 

The Deep-setting Method. — The milk, preferably fresh from 
the cow, is poured into a can of the "shot-gun" type, about 8 
to 10 inches in diameter and 18 to 25 inches deep. This can is 
placed in cold water and held at as low a temperature as possible. 
Temperatures between 45 degrees F. and the freezing point of 
water are preferable. At the end of 24 hours the separation is 
usually as complete as it is possible to secure by this method of 
separation. The removal of the cream thus separated is most 
conveniently accomplished by drawing the skim milk from a 
faucet at the bottom of the can, leaving about one inch of skim 
milk in the can. The skim milk should be drawn ofif slowly in 
order to avoid currents which cause a portion of the cream to be 
drawn into the skimmilk. In the case of cans without faucets the 
cream is removed with a dipper from the top. The skim milk, 
under proper conditions of creaming, averages about .2 to .3 per 
cent fat. 

The Water-Dilution Method. — The milk is diluted with equal 
parts of clean water, usually at about 100 degrees K. and set in 
a cool place for 12 hours, when it is ready to be skimmed. 
The skim milk is drawn from the bottom of the can. The 
great rapidity of the separation by this method is due to the 
lesser viscosity of the diluted milk which permits the fat globules 
to rise more readily to the surface. The skim milk generally 
contains from .3 to .4 per cent fat, but since it is diluted to twice 
its volume with water, the actual loss of fat in the original skim 
milk is .6 to .8 per cent. 

CENTRIFUGAL SEPARATION 

Definition. — In centrifugal separation the centrifugal force 
generated in a rapidly revolving bowl takes the place of the 
gravity force acting on milk in a vessel at rest. By centrifugal 
force, in the sense used here, is understood the force which 
causes a body, revolving around a center point, to fly from the 
center. As a simple illustration of this may be mentioned the 
pull which is felt when a weight attached to a string is whirled 
about the hand. The pull is caused by the tendency of the con- 
centrally moving weight to fly outward and the pull increases in 
force, the longer the string and the faster the weight is whirled. 



CENTRiifuGAr, Separation , 71 

The discus throw of the athlete is a concrete example of the cause 
and effect of the centrifugal force. The centrifugal force acts on 
liquids as well as on solid bodies. 

The Theory of Centrifugal Separation. — The separation of 
the cream from milk in the centrifugal separator is based on the 
well known physical law that when liquids of different specific 
gravities revolve around the same center, at the same distance, 
and with the same speed, the greater force is generated by the 
heavier liquid than by the lighter. Milk, as already stated, con- 
sists of two liquids of different specific gravities, the fat particles 
and the milk serum. The milk enters the rapidly revolving bowl 
either at the top, middle or at the bottom of the bowl. In most 
separators it runs first through a central tube which carries it 
to the middle or bottom before it is discharged into the bowl. In 
the case of a bowl not in motion the milk fills the bowl frorn 
the bottom up due to the force of gravity. When the bowl is 
rapidly revolving the force of gravity is overcome by the cen- 
trifugal force which is over a thousand times greater than the 
gravity force. The milk is therefore thrown immediately to the 
periphery or side of the bowl, filling the bowl from the side to 
the center. 

While both liquids, the fat particles and the milk serum, are 
forced to the bowl wall, the heavier liquid, which is the skim 
milk, is driven from the center with greater force than the 
lighter liquid which is the fat particles. The skim milk thus 
forms a vertical wall enveloping the side of the bowl. As the 
result of this separation the fat globules, which are uniformly 
distributed in the milk before it is subjected to the centrifugal 
force, separate from the skim milk and, through a recurrent 
motion, are crowded toward the center of the bowl, where they 
accumulate in a vertical layer of cream, in a similar way as 
they gather on the surface of the milk by gravity creaming. It 
is obvious, therefore, that the least fat is found near the periphery 
of the bowl and the most fat is found near the center of the bowl. 

As more milk flows into the bowl, the vertical wall of skim 
milk and cream expands in thickness, filling up the larger por- 
tion of the bowl. In most types of bowls, operated under normal 
conditions, the milk never fills the entire bowl, a vacant space 



72 



CieNTRlFUGAL SEPARATION 



being left in the center. The vertical wall of milk in the bowl 
increases until the discharge from the skim milk outlet and that 
from the cream outlet equal the rate of inflow of milk to the bowl. 

The intensity of the centrifugal force is controlled by three 
fundamental factors ; namely the speed and diameter of the bowl 
and the weight of the contents. It increases in proportion as the 
weight of the contents of the bowl and the diameter of the bowl 
increases, and also with the square of the number of revolutions 
per minute. Lamson^ calculated the centrifugal force factor for 
numerous farm separators as shown in the succeeding table. 
His calculations are based on the following formula: 

Fc=WD (R. P. M.) -.000014208 in which 

Fc^Centrifugal force 

W=:Weight expressed in pounds 

Dz=Inside diameter of bowl expressed in inches 

R. P. M.=Revolutions per minute. 

In all of the computations, the weight was figured as one 
pound, since a comparison only of the centrifugal force factors 
was desired. 

Table 4. — Centrifugal Force Factor when Revolutions per Minute 
and Diameter of Separator Bowl in Inches are known. 



Name of Separator 


Revolutions 

per 

Minute 


Diameter 

in 

Inches 


Centrifugal 

Force Factor, 

Calculated 


Galloway 


7500.0 

8378.0 

8160.0 

8220.0 

9336.8 

9145.0 

8224.3 

8993.0 

9200.7 

8980.2 

10148.4 

10449.0 

16533.9 


4.6780 
3.9630 
4,2500 
4.2500 
3.4500 
3.7187 
4.6325 
4.1670 
4.0050 
4.5550 
3.7150 
4.1970 
2.0000 


3738.7 


Economy King 


3952.2 


Dairy Queen 


4020.7 


John M. Smythe 


4080.0 


United States 


4273.2 


New Butterfly 


4418.7 


De Laval 


4451.9 


Primrose 

Anker-Holth 

Renfrew 


4788.1 
4817.0 
5219.1 


Empire 


5436.1 


Iowa 


6510.6 


Sharpies 


7768.1 







1 Lamson. — A Study of Farm Separators. M. S. A. Thesis, Purdue Uni- 
versity, 1918. 



Centrifugai, separation 



71 



Construction of the Separator. — The centrifugal cream sep- 
arator consists of three main parts, namely the separator frame, 
the bowl with internal devices, supply tank and discharge pans, 
the gear and power attachment. 



SANITARY PAUCET- 



BALANCED FLOAT, 



PATENTED FOAM 

REDUCING DISCHARGE. 



SELF CENTERING BOWL, 



DETACHED BOWL 

COUPLING RING 



SIGHT FEED 

OIL SUPPLY 



improved"de laval" 
separating discs 



AMPLE DIRT HOLDING SPACE 



BOWL CASING DRAIN 



DETACHED BOWL SPINDLE 

(REMAINING IN FRAME 



AUTOMATIC SPRAY 
OILING OF GEARING 
AND BEARINGS 



EXTRA HEAVY TINWARE 

SIMPLE CREAM REGULATOR 

COVER CLAMP 



PATENTED MILK 
DISTRIBUTOR 



BOWL HOLDING SCREW 




HEAVY PART OF BOWL 
BELOW CENTER OF GRAVITY 



SECTIONAL SPRING 

SPINDLE BEARING 



SPEED INDICATOR 



UPWARD THRUST 

WORM DRIVE GEARING 



SPRING CUSHIONED STEEL POINT 
AND TREAD WHEEL BEARING 



OPEN SANITARY BASE 



fig". 5. De Laval cream separator 
Courtesy De Laval Separator Co. 

The Separator Frame. — The frame of the separator furnishes 
the foundation and support of all important parts of the machine, 
it also serves to guide and protect the bowl and its spindle. It 
is of heavy construction, usually of cast iron and, in order to 
give the machine greater stability, it often extends at its bottom 
into a solid platform. The base of the frame carries in the case 
of most separators the bottom bearing of the spindle which drives 
the bowl. This bearing is generally equipped with an adjustable 



74 Centrifugal Separation 

screw whereby the bowl may be lowered or raised in its position 
in the frame. It also carries brass bushings at the bottom and 
top of the spindle which serve to guide the position of the spindle 
and to keep the bowl from wobbling-. The upper portion of the 
frame protects the bowl and serves as support for the pans into 
which the skim milk and cream are discharged. In the case 
of hand separators the frame is also equipped with supports for 
the milk supply tank, and for the skim milk and cream cans. 

The Separator Bowl and Spindle. — The bowl is the heart of 
the separator, in it the separation of the milk takes place. In 
most separators now in use the bowl extends at its lower ex- 
tremity into the spindle to which is transmitted, either direct or 
indirect, the motive power which revolves the bowl. In some 
separators the bowl and the spindle are one piece while in others 
the spindle is divided into an upper and lower spindle, connected 
by an offset in the contact end of each, or by a slot in one and 
a slot and pin in the other. Occasionally the bowl is entirely 
separated from the spindle, connecting with the top of the spindle. 
Then, again, there are separators in which the bowl is attached 
to the spindle by a permanent hinge joint. In still other ma- 
chines the bowl is suspended, its spindle which in these machines 
is at the top of the bowl, is coupled to an overhanging spindle 
head connecting with the seat of power. 

The bearing on which the spindle revolves may consist of a 
stationery but adjustable steel point on which a similar steel 
point at the termination of the spindle rests; or the spindle may 
terminate in a tapering disc which rests on a bearing of steel 
balls or steel rollers. The spindle is guided by an upper and a 
lower brass bushing. The ease of running and elasticity of the 
bowl may be enhanced by the use of bushings equipped with 
springs. 

The bowl proper consists in the main of a cylindrical, or 
cone-shaped vessel. It opens either at the top or at the bot- 
tom. It is closed by a coneshaped cover. At the point of con- 
tact with the cover the bowl carries a groove or rim which admits 
a rubber ring. This serves to make an absolutely tight seal be- 
tween bowl and cover, without which the pressure generated in 
the revolving bowl causes the milk to leak out. The cover must 



Centrifugai, Separation 75 

be firmly screwed to the bowl to prevent leaking. In the case 
of machines with suspended bowls the cover forms the bottom of 
the bowl or in some cases, the bowl may consist of two nearly 
equal halves which screw together, a rubber ring furnishing a 
tight seal. Most bowls also carry a central tube through which 
the milk enters, flows to near the bottom and then is released 
for distribution and separation. 

Experience has shown, that the efificiency of separation suf- 
fers when the milk is allowed to enter the separating space of 
the bowl by continuously passing through the innermost layer 
of milk, which represents the cream layer. This causes a con- 
stant mixing of the fresh milk with the cream layer. To avoid 
this the intake of the milk is so arranged that the inflowing milk 
passes into the neutral zone of the milk layer outside of the cream 
layer without passing through the latter. This is accomplished 
by compelling the milk to flow through an umbella-shaped disc 
at the bottom of the bowl or through properly located slots in 
the central tube or other similar devices in the center of the bowl. 

The bowls of the earlier separators were hollow in their in- 
terior. In order to cause the' milk to circulate with the bowl im- 
mediately upon its entrance, these bowls were equipped at their 
periphery with one or more wings extending radially to near the 
cream layer. In the newer separators most of the bowls carry 
a series of internal contrivances which not only assist in subject- 
ing the milk promptly to the circular motion, but increase the 
skimming efficiency of the machine further by exposing the milk 
over a longer distance to the centrifugal force and by facilitating 
the return of the fat globules to the cream layer. 

Of these internal contrivances the cone-shaped discs of the 
Alpha separator are the oldest and best known. These tin discs 
are slipped over the central tube of the bowl and rest on top of 
one another. They leave a small space open around the central 
tube for the gathering of the cream. The upper surface of each 
of these discs is spotted with small projections, for the purpose 
of keeping the discs at a slight distance from each other. These 
intervening spaces divide the milk, in its passage from the center 



76 



CentrifugaIv Separation 



to the periphery of the bowl, into very thin layers, augmenting 
the separating- efficiency. 

In order to avoid infringement on the Alpha De Laval patent 
of discs, other manufacturers have constructed a large assort- 
ment of different types of somewhat similar internal contrivances, 
all of which are intended for the same purpose. One distinct 
deviation from the horizontal or coneshaped disc is the vertical 
blade arrangement of the Simplex separator in which numerous 





Tig. 7. Simplex blades 

Courtesy D. H. BurreU & Co. 



Tig. 6. Simplex separator 

Courtesy D. H. BurreH & Co. 

curved tin blades, attached to a ring around the central tube 
extend from the central tube to the periphery of the bowl. These 
wings or blades, similar to the discs, are kept at a slight distance 
from each other by carrying small projections on their surfaces 
and in this way divide the milk into a multitude of very thin 
layers. 

The Skim Milk Outlet. — As previously stated, the layer of 
milk nearest the wall, or periphery of the bowl, contains the least 
fat and represents the skim milk. The skim milk is discharged 
either from the top or from the bottom of the bowl. The skim 
milk flows through small tubes from the extreme periphery to 
near the center of the bowl where it is discharged. The purpose 



Centrifugai, Separation 77 

of carrying the skim milk to near the center before it is per- 
mitted to escape is to reduce the force with which it is discharged. 
By passing toward the center the skim milk has to overcome the 
centrifugal force. 

These skim milk outlet tubes are very small, curved and 
difficult to thoroughly cleanse, which is an objectionable feature 
from the sanitary point of view. In the latest improved models 
of bowls these tubes have therefore been done away with. This 
has been accomplished by covering the top-most of the internal 
discs with a special closing disc, the lower edge of which extends 
to near the wall of the bowl and the upper end of which forms 
a sleeve extending up into the neck of the bowl cover. This 
closing disc carries sufficient projections on its upper surface 
to form a narrow space between it and the cover of the bowl. 
The skim milk passes through this space in the form of a thin 
layer and leaves the bowl through a small opening, the skim milk 
outlet, located at the bottom of the neck of the bowl cover. In 
some makes of separators the skim milk is discharged through 
the bottom of the bowl. 

The Cream Outlet. — The cream finds its exit from the bowl 
at, or near the top of the bowl cover. Its entrance to the outlet 
is located slightly nearer the center than the centermost part 
of the skim milk outlet. In most separators the cream outlet, or 
cream screw is adjustable. If the cream screw is located in the 
top of the bowl cover, it usually carries an eccentric orifice 
which is the cream outlet. This screw may be turned so as 
to place the opening or cream outlet nearer to or farther from 
the center. If the cream screw is located in the side of the bowl 
neck, the distance from the center at which the cream escapes 
from the bowl is regulated by turning this screw farther in or 
out. In the case of some bowls the cream outlet is stationary 
and the skim milk outlet is adjustable. 

Adjustment of Cream Screw to Regulate Proportion of 
Skim Milk and Cream and to Control Richness of Creeim. — As 
previously stated, the milk in the revolving bowl is forced to 
the side of the bowl, forming a vertical wall. The inner line 
of the milk in the bowl and of the skim milk in the skim milk 
tube, or skim milk space forms a straight vertical line. 



78 



Centrifugai^ separation 



As more milk flows into the bowl, the wall of milk extends 
farther toward the center until the skim milk begins to discharge 
from the skim milk outlet. As the inflow of milk continues the 
wall of milk in the bowl increases in thickness until the cream 
begins to escape through the cream outlet. Simultaneously the 



STEAM WMEEi 

Call bearing 




OEVOLVINC BOW 
THE SEPARATIOW 
OLACE) 



Tig. 8. Sharpies cream separator 

Courtesy Sharpies Separator Co. 

discharge of the skim milk increases. When the discharge of 
the skim milk and cream outlets equal the inflow of the milk, the 
thickness of the wall of the milk in the bowl becomes constant. 
The proportion of cream to skim milk in any given separator 
is controlled directly and exclusively by the relative distances of 
the two outlets from the center of the bowl, assuming that the 
separator is operated under otherwise normal and uniform con- 
ditions. 



CentrifugaTv Se;paration 79 

The assertion -of some authors that the relative amount of 
skim milk and cream depends in part on the size of the outlets 
is erroneous, inasmuch as experimental results by Ecles^ and 
Wayman conclusively show that, when the separator is run nor- 
mally, the volume of the skim milk discharge is not more than 
half of the capacity of the skim milk outlet. 

In order to secure any cream discharge, the cream outlet 
must be located slightly nearer the axis of the bowl than the 
outer wall of the skim milk tube. The more nearly alike the 
distance of the two from the center, the more cream and the 
less skim milk will there be. The greater the difference between 
their distance from the center, the less cream and the more skim 
milk will be discharged. Therefore, the turning of the cream 
screw toward the center decreases the cream discharge and in- 
creases the skim milk discharge and the turning of the cream 
screw from the center increases the cream discharge and de- 
creases the skim milk discharge. 

Simultaneously, with the turning of the cream screw to- 
ward the center and thereby decreasing the amount of cream, 
a richer cream is discharged, because the richest cream is nearest 
the center of the bowl. The turning out of the cream screw, 
while increasing the proportionate amount of cream, decreases 
its richness, because the cream layer farther from the center is 
thinner. 

Supply Tank, Float and Discharge Pans. — As accessories to 
the bowl may be considered also the milk supply tank, the re- 
ceiving cup with float and the milk and cream discharge pans. 

The milk supply tank rests on an extension of the separator 
frame. It is used only in the case of hand separators. In factory 
machines the milk runs into the separator direct from the vat or 
heater. The receiving cup is a part of the cover of the discharge 
pans. It accommodates the float, which device consists usually of 
a sealed, hollow tin bob acting as a regulator of the milk inflow. 
When the separator is fed too fast it rises on the surface of the 
milk in the receiving cup and closes a part of milk outlet of the 
5upply tank. 



1 Bckles and Wayman. — Factors Affecting the Per Cent Fat in Creain from 
Farm Separators. Missouri Bulletin No. 94, 1911. 



80 Centrifugal Separation 

Separators with bowls which discharge both, their milk and 
cream at the top of the bowl, are equipped with a cream and a 
skim milk catch pan with discharge spouts. These pans lie on 
the separator bowl frame. The top pan discharges the cream, 
the bottom pan the skim milk. In the case of separators which 
discharge their skim milk from the bottom of the bowl, no skim 
milk discharge pan is needed, the skim milk escaping through a 
tube in the frame at the bottom of the bowl. 

The Driving Mechanism. — The parts of the separator which 
control the transmission of the motive power, differ with the 
type of motive power used. The earlier machines were all 
factory separators which were driven either by belt, or steam 
turbine and later by electricity. 

The mechanism for the transmission of the power which 
revolves the bowl differs fundamentally between power or 
factory separators and hand separators and to some extent as to 
the type of power used. Differences in the details of the arrange- 
ment of the transmission further occur between separators of 
the same type but of different makes. 

Power or Factory Separators, — The first centrifugal separa- 
tors were those used in the factories and which are operated by 
power. The factory machines, as far as the type and mechanism 
for the transmission of the motive power is concerned, may be 
divided into belt machines, turbine machines and electric-driven 
machines. 

In the belt-driven machines the power is generated by a 
separate engine or motor which is entirely independent of the 
separator and, as far as the operation of the separator is con- 
cerned, is connected with the separator only when the latter is 
to be operated. In this case the motive power may be generated 
by a steam engine, a gasoline engine, electric or water motor. 
In the creamery where the steam engine, or possibly the elec- 
tric motor, is a necessary part of the equipment for the operation 
of various lines of power machines, such as churns, pasteurizer, 
etc., the separator is usually connected by belt with the main 
shaft or line shaft. In the case of separators of small capacity. 



Centrifugai, Separation 81 

not over about 2,000 pounds of milk per hour, the belt from the 
shaft usually connects direct with the separator. The lower 
end of the spindle of the separator is geared to a short horizontal 
shaft which carries a tight and a loose pulley. In order to start 
the separator slowly and to avoid sudden jars when changing the 
speed of the engine, the belt is shifted from the loose to the 
tight pulley very gradually. This type of power transmission 
is suitable also for large dairy farms where a gasoline engine or 
similar power is available. It has the advantage of facilitating 
the maintenance of uniform speed, provided that the belt does 
not slip, and of utilizing steam or other power and space 
economically. 

For machines of larger capacity, such as are used in the 
average commercial creamery and which may range as high as 
10,000 pounds of milk per hour or higher, indirect transmission 
of the belt power is used. For this purpose a double trans- 
mission in the form of an intermediate, or jack, is installed. The 
intermediate consists of a tight and loose pulley to which the 
pulley on the main shaft is belted and a large wheel which trans- 
mits the power from the intermediate to the separator by means 
of an endless separator cord or strap. In order to take up the 
slack in the cord the intermediate is equipped with a weighted 
lever which presses against the cord while in operation, tighten- 
ing the latter and preventing excessive slipping. The inter- 
mediate rests on an independent standard, permanently erected 
and usually at a distance of about 12 feet from the separator. 
The chief disadvantage of the use of the intermediate is that it 
takes up considerable space which might be utilized for other 
purposes. In the latest of models of power separators the inter- 
mediate has been dispensed with, removing the above objection. 

In the steam turbine-driven separators, in most cases, the 
lower end of the spindle carries a turbine wheel, which revolves 
in an inclosed turbine chamber of the separator frame and which 
contains a reduced steam inlet and a steam exhaust. In separa- 
tors with pending bowls the turbine is located above the separa- 
tor bowl. The steam supply pipe is equipped with a valve to 
regulate the steam inlet and for safety's sake it should carry, 



82 CfiNTRitfuGAi. Separation 

between the steam valve and the separator, a steam gauge and 
a blow-off valve, or safety, properly set to guard against ex- 
cessive steam pressure. The steam turbine separator has be- 
come very popular for both factory and farm machines. Its 
chief advantages are that the separator can be operated in- 
dependently of the steam engine or the main shaft. It is compact 
and does away with the space-wasting objection of the inter- 
mediate of the belt-driven machine. On the other hand it en- 
volves somewhat less economic use of steam and requires closer 
attention in order to insure uniform speed. The latter objection 
has been largely removed, however, in the latest types of steam 
turbine separators by equipping them with efficient automatic 
speed governors. The close proximity of the steam chamber to 
the lower bearing also is prone to augment the tendency of heat- 
ing the spindle in the absence of adequate lubrication. 

The electric-driven separator is a later inovation. It is 
equipped with an electric motor which is a part of the separator 
and which requires no power transmission arrangement addi- 
tional to that which forms a part of the separator. It can be 
operated independent of all other operations, no steam nor gaso- 
line engine is required, the turning on of the current is all that 
is necessary. So far these electric-driven separators have not 
found very extensive use, especially in the case of the larger 
machines. Their greatest disadvantage so far has been the short 
life of the motor. Experience has shown that these separator 
motors are of relatively short usefulness. It seems that the 
dampness to which they are bound to be exposed in the creamery 
is injurious to the insulation, necessitating frequent repairs and 
renewal. This objection is now, however, being rapidly over- 
come by efforts on the part of the manufacturer to furnish ma- 
chines with more efficiently protected motors. 

Hand Separators.-— In the case of the hand separator the 
power mechanism is a part of the separator proper. It, too, 
differs in details of arrangement with different makes of ma- 
chines. The fundamental principle of the mechanism is to pro- 
duce the relatively high number of revolutions which are re- 
quired of the bowl, — 6,000 to 17,000 revolutions per minute, — 



Centrifugal Separation 



83 



from the limited and relatively small number of turns of the 
crank shaft — 45 to 60 turns per minute — which can be con- 
venietly applied by hand. This is accomplished by transmis- 
sion of the power by a series of gear wheels located between the 
crank shaft and the spindle of the bowl. The type of gears varies 
somewhat with different makes of machines, they may consist of 





Tig. 9. De Iiaval hand separator 

Courtesy De Laval Separator Co. 



Fig-. 10. Sharpies hand separator 

Courtesy Sharpies Separator Co. 



cog wheels of various angles, worm wheels, friction wheels, or 
chain, or belt wheels, or a combination of two or more of these 
principles. 

The transmission by friction wheels has been almost com- 
pletely abandoned, because they have been found unsatisfactory 
for this purpose on account of uneven wear of friction surfaces 
and therefore irregular speed of the bowl. 

The chain transmission also is of rare occurrence and the 
belt transmission is generally installed only on those hand ma- 
chines which are to be used for power as well as hand operation. 



84 Centrifugal Separation 

Its chief advantage is that it protects the separator against sud- 
den shock of the spindle and bowl Avhich is practically unavoid- 
able when operated by certain forms of power. This is especial- 
ly true in the case of gasoline engine explosions. In these belt 
driven farm separators, the power is transmitted by belt to the 
tight and loose pulley which is' provided with a belt shifter, 
thence from the short center shaft which is a part of the set 
drive, by an endless belt to the lower worm wheel shaft of the 
separator. In the latest type of hand separator the power trans- 
mission is further equipped with a coil spring belt tightener ever 
which the belt runs and which automatically absorbs shocks and 
irregularities in speed. 

In the great majority of hand separators which are used for 
hand power only, the power is transmitted exclusively by cog 
wheels or by worm wheels or by a combination of both. The 
transmission mechanism usually consists of one, two or three 
pairs of wheels. The large cog wheel resting on the crank shaft 
transmits its power to a small cog wheel, this constitutes the first 
transmission of power with increased speed. The small cog 
wheel rests on a second large cog wheel which transmits its 
power either direct to the worm gear of the lower spindle, or to 
a third small wheel, to the axis of which is attached a third large 
wheel which connects direct with the lower spindle. 

The successive multiplication in speed resulting from these 

transmissions depends on the diilference in the number of cogs 

between the large and the small wheels. Assuming for example, 

that there are three pairs of cog wheels and in each pair the 

large wheel has 50 cogs and the small wheel has 10 cogs, the 

speed is increased by each of the three sets of transmissions five 

times, or 5x5x5^125. In the above case each turn of the crank 

shaft yields 125 revolutions of the bowl. If the required number 

of revolutions of the bowl is 6,500 per minute, then the crank 

, . 6500 ,^ 
shaft must be given - ^ 52 turns per mmute. 

It is obvious that the smoothness of running, as far as the 
transmission is concerned, is dependent on the regularity and 
state of preservation of these cogs. If the cogs are abnormally 
worn, or if one or more cogs are broken, the machine slips and 



CsNTRiFuGAi, Separation 



85 




Tig. 11. Steam tnrblne and speed crovernor 

Courtesy De Laval Separator Co. 



jolts, making the 
proper operation of 
the separator impos- 
sible. Damaged cog 
wheels or worn 
wheels therefore 
should be replaced 
by new ones at once. 
These facts further 
emphasize the im- 
portance of care in 
starting, running 
and stopping the 
separator. The ma- 
chine should be started up slowly and run with a uniform 
pressure of the hand and should be stopped gradually. 

The crank shaft of most hand separators now on the market 
is provided with a ratchet, which allovv'S the unhindered con- 
tinuation of the revolution of the bowl when the crank shaft 
stops, and therefore guards against shocks due to sudden stop- 
ping of the crank. However, some machines are equipped with 
bowl brakes which, if used at all, should be applied gradually, 
so as to prevent injury and excessive wear on the gearing 
mechanism. 

Another important part of the mechanism efficiency and 
durability of the separator is the lubricating arrangement and 
its management. 



Systems of Oiling. — The cream separator is a highly special- 
ized piece of farm machinery. Its mechanical parts are com- 
paratively delicate, its bowl revolves at a high speed, and the 
operation of the machine is usually continuous for at least an 
hour and often for a much longer period. These facts obviously 
render the system of oiling a very important part of the ma- 
chine and its operation. Absence of a proper and adequate 
system of oiling may cause undue friction on the wearing parts, 
resulting in misalignment and damage to the separator and un- 
satisfactory results of its operation. 



86 CENTRiifuGAiv Separation 

There are in use principally three systems of oiling, they 
are the "splash-oiling system," the "sight-feed cup oiling 
system" and the "open-hole oiling system." They vary in their 
application with the different makes of separators. Obviously 
that system is the best which is most nearly automatic, removes 
the sediment without permitting it to recirculate, and econo- 
mizes oil. 

In "the flash-oiling system" the gears and wearing parts are 
partly submerged in the oil, the oil usually being splashed by the 
lowest gear over the others and over the other wearing parts o^ 
the separator. In some separators provisions are made in the 
gear chamber for the draining of the grit and dirt, so that clean 
oil, only, circulates over the wearing parts. Lamson^ who made 
an extensive study of the construction of separators recommends 
that when this system is used, the gear chamber be frequently 
drained, using the waste oil for coarser farm machinery and that 
this chamber be flushed out with kerosene to remove sediment. 
The "splash-oiling system" is completely automatic in its 
operation. 

The "sight-feed cup oiling system" depends for its efficiency 
in continuously oiling the friction parts, on being so adjusted as 
to feed the oil slowly and on being kept filled. In its operation 
care is required to keep the feed tubes open and free from clog- 
ging, which is prone to occur in cold weather when the oil be- 
comes abnormally viscous or congeals entirely. This oiling 
system may be considered semi-automatic. 

The "open-oil-hole system" is obviously the crudest form of 
oiling the cream separator. It requires constant attention while 
the separator is used. Its lubrication is not uniform, it wastes 
oil, is mussy and the holes are prone to become clogged with 
dirt, waste and other obstructions. 

Power Requirements of Cream Separators. — The amount of 
power required to drive a separator at the requisite speed obvi- 
ously varies with the capacity of the machine. It also varies 
with machines of the same capacity but of different makes, and 
there is a considerable difference between the power required 



1 Lamson. — A Study of Farm Separators. M. S. A. Thesis, Purdue Uni- 
versity, 1918. 



CljNTRlFUGAI, SEPARATION 



87 



when empty and when loaded. The state of repair and kind of 
oil used and efficiency of oiling- are further factors which bear 
on the ease of running. 

Factory separators of a capacity about 5000 pounds per hour, 
when loaded require about 2 H. P. at the start and until full speed 
is attained. After that, from seven-eighths to one H. P. is suffi- 
cient to maintain full speed. Farm separators of the usual capa- 
city of about 350 to 500 pounds per hour require approximately 
from .063 to .16 H. P. when loaded. Lamson^ determined the 
relative Horse power required of twelve different farm separa- 
tors, when empty and when loaded. He used for his determina- 
tions a Torsion dynamometer, designed, built and perfected at 
Purdue University, but instead of running milk through the 
separator in his trials with the loaded machine, he used salt brine, 
having a specific gravity of 1.032 at 60° F. His results are shown 
in table 5. 



Table 5. — Horse Power Required to Drive Empty and Loaded 

Farm Cream Separators and Ratio of Power Required to 

Drive Empty to that of Loaded Separators. 





No. 


Crank 

R. P. M. 

Speed 

of 


Horse Power 


Ratio 


of Power 


Name of 
Separators 


Empty 


Loaded 


to Drive Empty 
to Loaded 


De Laval 

Economy King .. 
New Butterfly . . 
John M. Smythe. 
Dairy Queen . . .. 

Primrose 

Sharpies 

Galloway 

Renfrew 

United States . . . 

Anker-Holth 

Iowa 


12 
4 

4 
5 
2 
4 
7 
6 

16 
5 

30 


60 
60 
50 
60 
60 
60 
45 
50 
60 
60 
60 
60 


.0362 
.0335 
.0365 
.0353 
.0366 
.0496 
.0682 
.0373 
.0487 
.0538 
.0371 
.1215 


.0636 
.0656 
0.715 
.0726 
.0757 
.0760 
.0880 
.0881 
.1015 
.1035 
.1060 
.1624 




1.757 
1.958 
1.959 
2.057 
2.068 
1.532 
1.276 
2.362 
2.084 
1.924 
2.857 
1.337 


Average 




57 


.0495 1 .0895 




1.808 



.1 Lamson. — A Study of Farm Separators. M. S. A. Thesis, Purdue Uni- 
versity, 1918. 



88 CENTRiifuGAiv Separation 

The Capacity of the Cream Separator. — By the capacity of 
the cream separator is understood the amount of milk the ma- 
chine will skim per hour. Every cream separator is rated at a 
definite capacity; that is, it is built to separate a certain spe- 
cified amount of milk in a given length of time. The farm separa- 
tors range in capacity from about 150 to 1,200 pounds of milk per 
hour. For dairies with five to six cows a 350 to 400 pound capacity 
machine is recommended. The capacity of factory machines 
ranges from about 1,200 to 10,000 pounds of milk per hour. 

The capacity of the separator must have a definite relation 
to the centrifugal force, if the machine is to do' efficient skim- 
ming. An increase in the capacity, of any given separator, 
hastens the passage of the milk through the bowl and shortens 
the time during which it is subjected to the centrifugal force. 
The maximum capacity of a separator should, therefore, not ex- 
ceed the amount of milk which can be efficiently skimmed in an 
hour. Greater capacity, without also increasing the centrifugal 
force, overtaxes the separating ability of the machine and causes 
excessive loss of fat. 

Theoretically, the size of the skim milk and cream' outlets 
of the bowl obviously influence the capacity of the separator, for 
the larger these outlets, the more milk the separator is capable 
of taking in. If the bowl were not in motion and the discharge 
of skim milk and cream were depending only on the mechanical 
overflowing of these parts, this hypothesis would be correct. In 
this case these parts would be completely filled. 

But when the bowl is in motion such is not the case, the 
increased rapidity of the discharge due to the centrifugal force 
generated in the revolving bowl, greatly augments the capacity 
of the discharge parts, so that the skim milk and cream outlets are 
not completely filled and do at no time discharge skim milk and 
cream in accordance with their full capacity. This fact has been 
conclusively demonstrated by Eckles & Wayman,^ who found 
that, under normal conditions, the skim milk tube does not run 
much over one half of its actual capacity. 

For this reason it is obvious^ also, that a change in the pro- 



^ Eckles & Wayman. — Factors Affecting the Per Cent of Fat in Cream 
from Farm Separators. Missouri Bull. No. 94, 1911. 



Ckntrifugai, Separation 89 

portionate amount of skim milk and cream delivered, as caused 
by a change in the position of the skim milk or cream screw, 
does not afifect the capacity of the separator. The richness of 
the cream delivered, therefore, has no material effect on the 
capacity of the separator. 

The capacity of the separator is naturally directly affected 
by the rate of inflow. When the rate of inflow drops below 
the designated capacity, less milk flows through the separator 
and more time is required to separate a given amount of milk. 
When the rate of inflow is increased beyond the designated 
capacity, more milk flows through the separator than its capa- 
city calls for and less time is required to separate a given am- 
ount of milk. This latter fact is possible only because the 
skim milk and cream outlets are not filled to full capacity when 
the separator is operated under normal conditions. Hunziker^ 
shows that the same volume of milk that under normal inflow 
required 7 minutes for separation, required 11 minutes in the 
case of a reduced inflow and 6 minutes in the case of an; in- 
creased inflow. The reduced inflow did not affect the skim- 
ming efficiency, while the excessive inflow caused a greater loss 
of fat in the skim. milk. 

The speed of the separator exerts a powerful influence on 
the capacity of the machine. The speed generates the centrifugal 
force which expels the skim milk and cream through their 
respective outlets with great force. The greater the speed and, 
therefore, the greater the centrifugal force, the more rapid the 
exit of skim milk and cream and the greater the capacity of 
the separator. Hunziker^ shows that, when at normal speed, it 
required 5 minutes to separate a given volume of milk, the same 
volume required 9.6 minutes at a speed reduced 25 turns of the 
crank below normal and it required only 3.3 minutes at a speed 
increased 15 turns of the crank above normal. The decreased 
speed lowered the skimming efficiency while the excessive 
speed very slightly increased it. 

The state of cleanliness of the separator may affect the 
capacity of the machine to a considerable extent and, in the 
case of extremely bad condition, may clog the machine entirely. 



^Hunziker. — Why Cream Tests Vary. Purdue Bulletin No. 150. 1911. 



90 Skimming Efficiency of the Separator 

The formation of a wall of separator slime on the bowl wall 
reduces the diameter and thereby diminishes the centrifugal 
force, which, in turn, decreases the rapidity with which the milk 
passes through and out of the machine. The accumulation of 
foreign matter and clots also tend to diminish the size of the 
outlets and partly block the passage of skim milk and cream. 

CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE SKIMMING EFFI- 
CIENCY OF THE SEPARATOR. 

The exclusive purpose for which the cream separator has 
been devised is to skim milk. In its construction, efficiency to 
skim close was the dominant aim. This skimming efficiency 
has been accomplished to a very marked degree, removing from 
96 to 98 per cent of the fat of the milk and leaving in the skim 
milk less than .1 per cent fat under normal conditions. Experi- 
ments with the farm separator have shown even greater skim- 
ming efficiency when operated under proper conditions. 

In order to accomplish high skimming efficiency and to 
leave the minimum amount of fat in the skim milk, the machine 
must be operated properly and in accordance with the directions 
furnished by the manufacturer. The chief factors which con- 
trol the skimming efficiency of the cream separator are : Speed 
of machine, rate of milk inflow and temperature of milk. In 
addition to these fundamental factors, other conditions such as 
adjustment of cream screw, smoothness of running, cleanliness 
of separator bowl and condition of milk, may influence to some 
extent the per cent fat lost in the skim milk. 

Effect of Speed of Separator on Skimming Efficiency. — The 
speed of the revolving bowl generates the centrifugal force 
which causes the separation of the liquids of different specific 
gravities, it separates the fat from the skim milk, causing the 
separator to discharge cream and skim milk. 

The higher the speed, the greater is the centrifugal force 
and, other conditions remaining the same, the more corjjplete 
is the separation. Every cream separator has a given, rated 
speed at which it will do its most efficient work. If the speed 
is reduced below that required, the skimming efficiency will 



Skimming Efi^iciency of the: Se;parator 91 

be lessened and more fat is lost in the skim milk. Nothing is 
gained by running the machine faster than the required speed ; 
excessive speed does not materially increase the skimming effi- 
ciency; on the other hand it augments the pressure on the 
bowl and on other parts of the separator, and beyond certain 
limits the bowl may collapse, or it may jump the castings, or 
it may increase the friction sufficiently to cause the spindle 
and the bearings and bushings to heat and wedge, in which 
case the bowl may come to a sudden stop warping the spindle. 
For these reasons each machine is accompanied by directions 
in which the proper speed of the separator is specifically stated. 

The speed of the bowl varies considerably Avith different 
makes of separators. Since, at a given speed, the centrifugal 
force increases with the increase of the diameter of the bowl, 
separators with wide bowls do not require as high a speed to 
develop the desired separating efficiency as separators with a 
narrow bowl. Thus the relatively large-diameter bowls of the 
De Laval type require only from five to six thousand revolu- 
tions per minute, while separators with bowls of the tubular 
type, long and narrow, must be run at about 17,000 revolutions 
per minute. 

In the case of the hand separator the proper speed is given 
in terms of number of "turns of the crank. This varies with dif- 
ferent machines from 45 to 60 turns per minute. The exact 
number of turns required is usually indicated on the crank of 
the separator. 

When the proper speed has been attained it should be 
maintained uniformly throughout the separation. Running the 
separator at uneven speed causes incomplete separation. 

Control of Speed of the Separator. — In the case of the hand 
separator, as used on the farm, the operator can make sure of 
giving the separator the proper speed by timing himself. All 
he has to do is to count the turns of the crank per minute, by 
the watch in his hand. By doing this occasionally he soon 
learns the necessary rapidity of motion to run the machine at 
full speed. Unfortunately this is not usually done and expe- 
rience has amply shown that the general tendency of the oper- 
ator is to overestimate the amount of work he puts into the 



92 Skimming Efficie;ncy of the; Separator 

machine, causing the separator to be run at too low a speed, 
thereby not getting out of the milk all the available fat. This 
is particularly true where different persons operate the same 
machine, but even the same operator, unless he times himself, 
may soon get in the habit of running the machine too slowly. 

The metronome, which can be set to tick the exact number 
of turns required per minute is a very useful instrument to keep 
up the speed of the separator. 

Some separators have a bell attachment striking the re- 
quired number of revolutions per minute when the separator 
runs full speed. 

The gyrometer is another separator speed indicator which 
is extensively used in European machines. It consists of a 
graduated glass tube, partly filled with glycerin and closed at 
both ends. It is either directly or indirectly connected with 
the spindle of the bowl, so that it revolves with the spindle. 
When revolving, the glycerin, acted upon by the centrifugal force, 
recedes from the center, rises along the walls of the tube and 
forms a funnel of air in the center, the length of which bears 
a definite relation to the speed of the machine. A graduation 
on the tube extending from top to bottom, shows the number 
of revolutions of the bowl at different lenghts of the air funnel. 

In more recent years in this country numerous types of 
speed indicators, attached to the machine and operating on a 
principle similar to that of the speedometers used on automo- 
biles, have been devised and are in more or less general use. 
One of the more recent ideas of speed indicator is a combina- 
tion of speed governor and controller of the rate of inflow of 
the milk. Its fundamental idea is to reduce the milk inlet as the 
speed of the machine drops below normal, and thereby automatic- 
ally maintain the skimming efficiency at a speed below normal, 
the decreased skimming efficiency of the lower speed being offset 
by the increased skimming efficiency of the reduced milk inflow. 

The principle of regulating the rate of inflow by the speed 
and thus maintaining the skimming efficiency at a reduced 
speed has been applied in the case of the Sharpies Tubular 
separator. In the latest models of this machine the rate of 
inflow is dependent on the suction generated by the revolving 



Skimming Efficiency of the; Sfparator 



93 



bowl. The higher the speed the greater the suction and the 
larger the milk inflow and vice versa. This principle applies 
within reasonable limits of speed. When the speed drops below 
the normal limit the skimming efficiency is jeopardized. 

Some of the latest models of steam turbine-driven machines 
provide for a steam governor, similar to that used on high-class 
steam engines, insuring an even speed for turbine-driven machines. 
This principle has been applied in the case of the De Laval Turbine 
separator. 

The automatic speed indicators are particularly valuable 
in the operation of the hand separator on the farm. Experi- 
ments conducted at the Purdue University Agricultural Expe- 
riment Station^ show that the loss of fat in the skim milk, 
through the failure of the man behind the crank to run the 
separator at full speed, is often very great. 

Table 6. — Effect of Speed on the Skimming Efficiency of the 

Separator. 







Revolutions of 


Separator Crank 








10-15 too High 


Normal 


10-15 too Low 


20-30 too Low 


Trial 


Per cent of Fat 


Per cent of Fat 


Per cent of Fat 


Per cent of Fat 


No. 


1 Skim 


1 Skim 


1 Skim 


Skim 




Creami Milk 


Cream| Milk 


Creamj Milk 


Cream Milk 


1 


32. 


.02 


28. 1 .02 


23. 


.095 


20. 


.135 


2 


28. 


.02 


24.5 1 .02 


21. 


.14 


18.5 


.38 


3 


24. 


.03 


21. 


.04 


19. 


.115 


17. 


.15 


4 


32. 


• .03 


29. 


.035 


26. 


.14 


22. 


.20 


5 


28. 


.03 


26. 


.03 


24. 


.15 


20. 


.34 


6 


30. 


.04 


27.5 


.035 


24.5 


.16 


22. 


M 


7 


48. 


.03 


42. 


.03 


36. 


.10 


34. 


.14 


8 


32. 


.03 


28. 


.025 


25. 


.11 


23. 


.14 


9 


33. 


.02 


28. 


.02 


25. 


.105 


24. 


.18 


10 


33. 1 .035 


28. 


.035 


27. 


.11 


23. 


.16 


11 


32. 1 .03 


28. 


.03 


27. 


.11 


25. 


.155 


12 


34. 1 .03 


32. 


.03 


36. .13 


30. 


.19 


Average. . 


32. 1 .029 


28.5 ! .029 


26. 1 .12 


23. 1 .21 



1 Hunziker. — The Hand Separator and the Gravity Systems of Creamlne. 
Purdue BuUetin No. 116, 1906. 

Hunziker. — ^Why Cream Tests Vary. Purdue Bulletin No. 150, 1911. 



94 Skimming Efficiency of thf Separator 

The accompanying figures show that in the case of a cow 
producing 6,000 pounds of milk per year and yielding 5,100 
pounds of skim milk the loss of butter per cow per year would 
be 12.85 pounds which at 45 cents per pound would amount to 
$5.78. This illustration amply demonstrates that the dairy farm- 
er cannot afford to ignore the speed of the separator and 
should, for his own protection, use some reliable means to 
insure the proper speed of his machine. 

It is obvious that proper attention to the speed of the 
separator is equally necessary in the factory, particularly when 
steam turbine separators are used. Especially in small plants 
with small boiler capacity, the steam pressure is prone to vary 
and this in turn causes the turbine separator to run irregularly. 
Excessive speed due to high steam pressure is usually guarded 
against by the installation of a blow-off valve. In the case 
of belt-driven machines, the speed is usually more uniform, 
provided that the engine is equipped with an efficient gov- 
ernor, is running at a uniform stroke and the slipping of belts 
is avoided. 

Effect of Rate of Inflow on Skimming Efficiency of the 
Separator. — The rate of inflow has a very marked influence on 
the completeness of the separation. The capacity rated by the 
manufacturer of the machine is supposed to represent the 
maximum amount of milk which will insure complete separa- 
tion. If the rate of inflow is forced beyond the specified capa- 
city of the separator, the skim,niing efficiency decreases. This 
is due to the fact that the milk passes through the separator 
so rapidly that it is not exposed to the centrifugal force long 
enough to undergo complete separation. 

A reduction below capacity of the amount of milk passing 
through the separator is of no special advantage ; it fails to 
appreciably increase the skimming efficiency and it prolongs 
the process of separation. These facts were experimentally 
demonstrated by the Purdue Agricultural Experiment Station,^ 
as shown in the following table. 



1 Hunziker. — The Hand Separator and the Gravity Systems of Creamin|;. 
Purdue BuHetin No. 116, 1906. 



Skimming Efficiency of thf Separator 



95 



Table 7. — Effect of the Rate of Inflow on the Per Cent of Fat 

in Skim Milk. 



Average 



Large 


Inflow 


Normal Inflow 


Small 


Inflow 


Per cent of Fat 


Per cent of Fat 


Per cent of Fat 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


Cream 


Skim 'Milk 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


22. 


.155 






30.5 


.025 


23. 


.165 


28. 


.025 


31. 


.02 


22.5 


.13 


28. 


.02 


28. 


.02 


22. 


.14 


28. 


.035 


28. 


.03 


24. 


.15 


28. 


.03 


31.5 


.03 


26. 


.13 


32. 


.03 


Z2. 


.035 


23. 


.145 


29. 


.028 


30. 


.027 



These facts emphasize the importance of properly control- 
ling the rate of inflow of the cream separator, in order to reduce 
the amount of fat in the skim milk to the minimum. 

Control of Rate of Inflow. — The inflow of milk to the sepa- 
rator may be regulated b}^ various contrivances used with hand 
and power machines. The most common regulator in use con- 
sists of the so-called float which operates in the receiving cup, 
or milk reservoir, located directly over the bowl. The float is 
a hollow tin body usually carrying on its upper side a vertical 
projection. When too much milk flows into the bowl the re- 
ceiving cup fills up, the float rises and its vertical projection 
runs into the faucet of the milk supply tank shutting ofif some 
of the milk. In the meantime the milk in the reservoir cup 
recedes, and the float drops back permitting more milk to flow 
into the bowl. In the Sharpies Tubular separator the rate of 
inflow is regulated, within certain limits, by the speed of the 
bowl as previously explained. 

The rate of inflow is affected to an appreciable extent by 
the depth of the milk in the supply tank. The fuller the milk 
supply tank the greater the pressure of the milk on the float 
and the more milk will flow into the bowl. In the case of 
the farm separator, properly operated, variations in the rate 
of inflow caused by variations in the fullness of the supply 
tank are not sufficient to seriously influence the skimming efffi- 
ciency, but they may cause an appreciable effect on the rich 



96 



Skimming Efficiency of the; Separator 



ness of the cream. Undue crowding of the machine and of 
sacrificing skimming efficiency due to the pressure of the milk 
above the bowl frequently occurs however, when the separator 
is fed direct from a vat or tank, through a faucet, as is often 
the case in the factory, when the supply vat may be located 
at a considerable elevation above the separator, or possibly on 
the second floor. 

Effect of Temperature of Milk on Skimming Efficiency. — 
Exhaustive skimming requires the temperature of the milk to 
be near that of the animal body. There is not much difference 
in the skimming efficiency between 80 and 100 degrees F. but 
when the temperature drops to 70 degrees F. or lower, there 
is a decided, excessive loss of butter fat in the skim milk. 

This phenomenon is probably largely due to the increase 
in the viscosity of the milk as the temperature drops. The 
warmer the milk the more fluid it is and the greater the free- 
dom with which the fat globules can move about. The more 
fluid the milk the more complete is the separation. With a 
lowering of the temperature the milk becomes less fluid, its 
viscosity becomjes greater, the fat globules find more resistance 
and do not respond to the centrifugal force as readily. 

Table 8. — Effect of Different Temperatures on the Per Cent 
of Fat in Skim Milk. 





90 Degrees F. 


75 Degrees P. 


60 Degrees F. 




Milk 1 




a oi 
.Sfa 


Milk 






Milk 


6^ 






to 


4-> 


3 


4-1 


1-) 


4J 


C Hi 
02^ 


1 

2 
3 

4 
5 
6 
7 
8 


51 
48 

51 
50 
50 
50 
50 
50 


4.1 
4.4 
3.4 
3.4 
4.2 
4.4 
4.0 
4.2 


30. .02 
25. .02 
34. .02 

24. .01 
27. .03 
23.5 .04 
30. .02 

25. .02 


51 
46 
51 
50 
50 
50 
50 
51 


4.1 
4.4 
3.4 
3.4 
4.2 
4.4 
4.0 
4.2 


31. 
26. 
34. 
25. 
30. 
24. 
31. 
27. 


.04 
.05 
.05 
.04 
.05 
.07 
.05 
.06 


48 
45 
46 
50 
50 
50 
48 
48 


4.1 
4.4 
3.4 
3.4 
4.2 
4.4 
4.0 
4.2 


50.5 

28. 

38. 

38. 

40. 

25. 

34. 

40. 


.11 

.10 
.09 
.12 
.20 
.12 
.09 
.14 


Average. 






.022 




1 


.051 








.12 



Skimming Epficikncy of thk Si^parator 97 

The relative effect of different temperatures of the milk 
at the time of separation on the per cent of fat left in the skim 
milk from various makes of hand separators is shown in 
table 8. 

Similar results were obtained by Eckles and Wayman^ and 
by Guthrie. - 

At a temperature below 70 degrees F. most separators 
began to clog, due to the excessive viscosity and the tendency 
of the milk and cream to churn. 

Control of Temperature of milk. — On the farm the simplest 
way to have the milk at the right temperature for separation, 
is to separate immediately after each milking. This practice 
does away with the bother of artificially heating of the milk 
before separating, for which the average farm is not properly 
equipped and which would be necessary, especially in winter, 
if the milk were held over for separation from the previous 
milking or previous day. 

In the factory, however, where the milk arrives already 
cooled, special provision is required to heat the milk to the 
proper temperature (95 to 100 degrees F.) before it passes into 
the separator. This is most easily accomplished by the use 
of a continuous milk heater similar to a flash pasteurizer. In 
some creameries which receive whole milk, the milk is heated 
to pasteurizing temperature preparatory to separation. This 
has the advantage of pasteurizing not only the cream but also 
the skim milk. From the stand point of skimming efficiency, 
however, nothing is gained by this practice. The fat lost in 
the skim milk by separating the milk at temperatures of 145 
to 185 degrees F. is practically equal to that lost when sepa- 
rating at 95 to 100 degrees F. Experience has further shown 
that the separator is more prone to clog with milk at pasteuriz- 
ing temperature and has to be taken apart oftener for cleans- 
ing. This hot milk deposits more separator slime. Additional 
disadvantages of pasteurizing the milk before separation, in- 
stead of pasteurizing the cream are, the greater cost of the 
pasteurizing equipment and the greater expense of heating. 



1 Eckles & Wayman. — Factors Affecting the Per Cent of Fat in Cream 
from Farm Separators. Missouri Bulletin No. 94, 1911. 

2 Guthrie. — Variations in the Tests for Fat in Cream and in Skimmed 
Milk. Cornell Bulletin No. 360, 1915. 



98 Skimming EfficiKncy oF the Separator 

The skim milk can be pasteurized more economically sepa- 
rately by the use of exhaust steam. In order to accomplish ex- 
haustive skimming of cold milk heated to the desired temper- 
ature for separation, the milk must be held at that temperature 
for a reasonable length of time so as to give the fat globules a 
chance to warm and expand and thereby to regain their buoyancy. 

In some factories the milk is heated without the use of a 
special heater, but by turning steam direct into the milk. 
Experience has shown this to be a very undesirable practice. 
At best, much of the steam used condenses in the milk, dilut- 
ing the milk and the skim milk. Then, again, the steam is 
often associated with impurities, such as cylinder oil from the 
engine, boiler compounds used in the boiler, scales from the 
inside of the steam pipes, etc. The turning of steam direct 
into the milk has also been found to be injurious to the quality 
of the finished product causing both the cream and the butter 
to take on an oily flavor. 

Effect of Position of Cream or Skim Milk Screw on the 
Skimming Efficiency of the Separator. — As already explained, 
the purpose of the cream screw, or skim milk screw, is to reg- 
ulate the ratio of cream to skim milk and to control the rich- 
ness of the cream. Most makes of separators permit of a rather 
wide range of fat content in cream, without sacrificing their 
skimming efficiency. Some machines, however, when they are 
so adjusted as to produce cream testing below 18 per cent fat 
or above 50 per cent fat, skim less completely. In the case of 
some machines, especially those with relatively narrow bowls, 
there is a tendency for the bowl to clog, when attempts are 
made to produce cream testing 50 per cent fat or more. 

Generally speaking, it is safe to state that the machines 
now on the market have reached such a degree of perfection 
that they can be depended on to do close skimming when set 
to produce cream containing not less than 18 per cent fat, nor 
more than 50 per cent fat. This range of richness is sufficient 
to embrace cream of any richness commercially advantageous. 

Effect of Smoothness of Running on the Skimming E^ffi- 
ciency of the Separator. — The separator cannot be expected to 
do efficient work unless it runs smoothly. When the bowl re- 
volves smoothly and without jarring, the skim milk and cream 



Skimming Efficiency of the; Separator 



99 



separated by the centrifugal force thus generated, escape from 
the machine separately. If the machine trembles and jars, a 
portion of the cream and skim milk may again become mixed 
by the vibration of the bowl, causing a relatively large amount 
of fat to escape with the skim milk and thus reducing the 
skimming efficiency of the separator. This fact is shown in 
the following table which summarizes the results of experi- 
ments conducted by Hunziker, with smoothly running and 
trembling- machines. 



Table 9. — Relative Skimming Efficiency of a Balanced and 
Unbalanced Separator. 



Balanced 


Unba 


anced 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


Per cent Fat 


Per cent Fat 


Per cent Fat 


Per cent Fat 


42. 


.03 


25. 


.15 


28. 


.025 


30. 


.17 


28. 


.02 


31. 


.18 


28. 


.035 


28. 


.16 


28. 


.03 


28. 


.155 


32. 


.03 


30. 


.19 


Average 


.03 1 


.17 



The trembling of the bowl may be due to any one or more 
of the following conditions : Shaky foundation, machine not 
setting level, spindle sprung, internal contrivances of bowl 
damaged or not properly placed or incomplete, worn-out bear- 
ings, loose bushings, excessive speed. 

The separator should rest on a solid foundation. For farm 
separators a solid plank floor is adequate, for factory machines 
a concrete, brick or stone base is preferable. The foundation 
must be level, though the nev/er machines with self-balancing 
bowls minimize the undesirable effect of machines not setting 
quite level. The separator, while it should be fastened securely 
to its foundation, should not be screwed down too rigidly for 
smooth running. A certain amount of "give", or "resonance" 
is necessary in order to insure smooth running. For this pur- 
pose it is advisable to place rubber cushions between the sep- 



100 



Skimming Efficiency of the; Sfparator 



arator base and its foundation. The spindle must be true, the 
bearings and bushings intact and the internal contrivances of 
the bowl must be undamaged and in their respective places. 
The bearings must be fed with oil continuously, must be pro- 
tected against dust and other material increasing friction, and 
the bowl and internal contrivances must be handled with care, 
to prevent damage which would cause to throw the machine 
out of balance. 

Effect of Cleanliness of Separator on Skimming Efficiency. 
— Milk, even in its best condition, contains a certain amount 
of impurities such as dirt, dust and other foreign matter gain- 
• ing access to it during its production. This, together with par- 
ticles of viscous nitrogenous matter naturally present in milk, 
Table 10. — Showing the Effect of Clean and Unclean Separa- 
tors on the Per Cent of Fat in the Skim Milk. 



Machines Cleaned After Each 


Machines Cleaned Once 


Separation 


per Day 


Per cent Fat in Skim Milk 


Per cent Fat in S'kim Milk 


.03 


.02 


.03 


.03 


.03 


.03 


.02 


.02 


.04 


.02 


.03 


.02 


.02 


.31 


.03 


.15 


.11 


.72 


.03 


.06 


.06 


.03 


.04 


.02 


.02 


.04 


.05 


.03 


.02 


.03 


.05 


.26 


.02 


.23 


.02 


.12 


.02 


.03 


.02 


.02 


.05 


.02 


.02 


.02 


.03 


.07 


Average 034 


.10 



Skimming Efficiency of the Separator 101 

collects in the separator bowl, forming the so-called separator 
slime. It is deposited largely on the walls of the bowl and 
between the internal contrivances. 

This slime also impedes the free passage of the milk and 
cream within the bowl, thereby reducing the diameter, centrifugal 
force and capacity of the bowl, lowering its skimming efficiency 
and causing excessive loss of fat. This loss is greatest with milk 
in poor physical condition. The results of experiments^ with 
clean and unclean separators are shown in Table 10. 

Guthrie- found that, within reasonable limits, deposits of 
separator slime in the bowl do not materially interfere with the 
skimming efficiency of the machine. He concludes that only 
when the bowl fills up with separator slime to the extent of 
clogging the passages, does the efficiency of separation sufifer. 

In his tests, Guthrie used from 240 to 320 pounds of milk 
only per test. He does not state the rated capacity of the sepa- 
rator. It is probable, therefore, that in these experiments the 
amount of milk used was too small and the amount of sepa- 
rator slime centrifuged out too limited to materially afifect the 
diameter of the bowl and the centrifugal force. 

In commercial separation of the milk, where the separator 
often is in continuous operation for several hours, the accumu- 
lation of separator slime is frequently very great and this in 
turn is bound to seriously diminish the skimming efficiency 
of the machine. 

Effect of Condition of Milk on Skimming Efficiency of the 
Separator. — Milk in poor mechanical and physical condition, 
such as milk containing a relatively large amount of impurities, 
or milk, which is old and partly sour or curdy, tends to lower 
the skimming efficiency, largely because it augrnents the am- 
ount of separator slime which collects in the bowl ; this in turn 
impedes the free passage of milk and cream and causes exces- 
sive loss of fat. 

If the milk is curdy the danger of incomplete separation 
is augmented by the fact that each particle of curd locks up a 
small amount of fat, and the curd passing into the skim milk 



1 Hunziker. — The Hand Separator and the Gravity Systems of Creaming. 
Purdue BuUetin No. 116, 1906. 

- Guthrie. — Variations in the Tests for Fat in Cream and Skimmed Milk. 
Cornell Bulletin No. 360, 1915. 



102 Conditions Affe;cting Richness of Cream 

on account of its greater specific gravity, carries this fat with 
it. If it is necessary to run curdy milk through the separator, 
the milk should be poured from one can to another, or stirred, 
sufficiently to break up the curd as finely as possible. 

Milk in poor condition is very prone to cause the bowl to 
clog. If such milk must be separated it is advisable to slightly 
underfeed the separator. 

CONDITIONS AFFECTING THE RICHNESS OF 

CREAM. 

It is desirable and important, for more reasons than one, 
that means and methods be used whereby the per cent of fat 
in cream can be properly controlled. The creamery, in order to 
utilize its cream satisfactorily and economically, for sale or for 
manufacture, requires cream of suitable richness for each 
specific commercial purpose. For buttermaking, cream testing 
30 to 35 per cent fat is most desirable. Such cream makes pos- 
sible easy handling, it minimizes injury to the fat during pas- 
teurization, and permits of the use of a liberal amount of 
starter without excessive dilution. Excessively low testing 
cream sours and spoils more readily than richer cream, so that 
by the time it reaches the creamery, thin cream is often in a con- 
dition unfit to be made into good butter. In this sour and 
curdy condition accurate sampling and testing is rendered diffi- 
cult, if it is at all possible. Thin cream is undesirable further, 
because it diminishes the amount of skim milk available for the 
feeding of calves and pigs on the farm ; it increases the cost 
of transportation of every pound of butter fat so shipped or 
hauled; it makes impractical the use of a reasonable amount 
of starter in the creamery, and starter is essential for the de- 
velopment of a pleasing high flavor of butter; it does not 
churn out exhaustively and yields an excessive amount of but- 
termilk, augmenting the loss of fat and thereby reducing the 
churn yield. 

Excessively rich cream, such as cream testing above 45 per 
cent fat is also undesirable from the farmer's and the cream- 
ery's standpoint. Such cream tends to clog the separator; it 



Conditions Af^e^cting Richne;ss op Cruam 103 

renders the emptying of the cans exceedingly difficult, espe- 
cially during cold weather; it makes difficult accurate sampling 
and thereby tends to yield incorrect tests ; and it contains too 
small an amount of milk solids to properly protect the fat 
globules against mutilation and injury during pasteurization 
and churning. It is desirable to produce somewhat richer cream 
in summer than in winter to prevent excessive fermentation in 
summer and difficult handling in winter. 

When a more exact per cent of fat is desired, as is the 
case of cream sold as sweet cream direct to the consumer, or 
used in the manufacture of ice cream, the definite richness is 
usually most conveniently secured by standardization of the 
cream after separation. 

The knowledge and control of conditions which regulate 
the richness of the cream produced on the farm, is of unques- 
tionable importance. The cream test reported by the creamery 
to its patrons is one of the guiding factors which sways the 
cream producer for or against the reporting creamery. There 
is no one factor, except possibly open dishonesty, that is so 
potent of disorganizing and demoralizing the cream supply 
territory of a creamery, as a repetition of changes in the re- 
ported cream tests of successive deliveries of cream from the 
same patron. This fact is largely due to the usual ignorance 
on the part of the average cream patron of the numerous con- 
ditions under his own control and not under the control of 
the creamery, which may cause the richness of the cream and, 
therefore, the test to vary and yet, when the tests do vary the 
producer is tempted to accuse the creamery of reporting incor- 
rect tests and being unfair in its dealings. 

In some cases these accusations are justified, but in the 
great majority of instances the variations in the tests are due 
to variations in the richness of the cream caused by irregular- 
ities incident to the operation of the farm separator. The fol- 
lowing are the chief factors controlling the richness of the 
cream : 

1. Position of cream screw or skim milk screw 

2. Richness of milk 



104 Conditions App'Ecting Richness of Cream 

3. Speed of separator 

4. Rate of inflow 

5. Temperature of milk 

6. Amount of water or skim milk used to flush the bowl 

7. Cleanliness of separator bowl. 

Effect of Cream Screw or Skim Milk Screw on Richness 
of Cream. — The relation of the position of the cream screw and 
skim milk screw to the proportion of cream to skim milk and to 
the richness of the cream has been previously discussed. 

Fundamentally, any change in the separator which will alter 
the relative amounts of skim milk and cream will influence the 
per cent of fat in the cream. 

These devices, the skim milk screw and the cream screw are 
very sensitive adjustments. Only a slight turn (| turn) of 
the screw is sufficient to bring- about a very appreciable change 
in the per cent of fat of the cream. 

Effect of Richness of Milk on Richness of Cream. — The 
richness of the milk separated, directly influences the richness 
of the cream^; in fact the per cent of fat in the cream stands 
in direct proportion to the per cent of fat in the milk separated. 

With the cream screw set to deliver a certain definite rich- 
ness of cream and all other conditions normal, the separator 
will deliver a definite ratio of skim milk to cream. This ratio 
varies with the adjustment of the cream screw or skim milk 
screw. For illustration, it is assumed that this ratio of skim 
milk to cream be 85 to 15, that is, that of each 100 pounds of 
milk separated, the separator discharges 85 pounds of skim 
milk and 15 pounds of cream. If all conditions are the same 
this ratio of skim milk to cream remains constant. Changes 
in the richness of the milk cannot alter it, no matter how rich 
or how poor the milk, each 100 pounds of milk will yield 85 
pounds of skim milk and 15 pounds of cream. But since prac- 
tically all of the fat goes into the cream, the cream from the 
separation of rich milk contains more fat than that from poor 
milk. This fact is graphically illustrated in Fig. 12. 



Conditions Affecting Richness of Cream 



105 



(KFiFdgir ®r (^DSKJKigii m mqilk wm mn mum « 



COA/rA/m 3LB5-0rfAT 



6S/ii 



/SLBi orcmn -3ib5 offxt 
7^jrarc/?SA/i -20. ^ 

-p^ y /0a '=20'/' 






^/IS/iiCream ^ 
'////////////A 







/S/3S oFCfi£M' f.siBS orrxT. 
7rsrorcff£Ati - 50 •/» 

-^ x/^^= 30'/'. 






'^/////m'///A 



65 lbs. 

Shmmilk. , 



>¥0'''- 



isiBz. orcffCAti = eiBsor/TiT. 
Tzsrcroi's/i/i - ra-/- 
-^ '■■/oa^^a'/' 



Pig-. 12 

Table 11. — ^^Showing Effect of Richness of Milk on Richness 

of Cream.^ 



Experi- 
ment 
No. 



Milk 



Lbs. 



Fat 



Fat 
Lbs. 



Time of 
Separa- 
tion 
Min. 



Cream 



I Fat 
Lbs. I % 



Fat 
Lbs. 



Skim Milk 



I Fat I Fat 
Lbs. I % I Lbs. 



Milk Testing Z% Fat 



I 

II 

III. ... 


50 
50 
50 


3 
3 
3 


1.5 
1.5 
L5 


7 
7 
7 

7 


6.25 1 19 1 1.18 
6.5 { 20.5 1 1.33 
6.5 1 20.5 1 1.33 


45 1 .12 

46 1 .03 
46 1 .04 


.054 
.013 
.018 


Aver. . 


50 


3 


1.5 


6.42 1 20 1 1.28 


46 1 .06 


.028 


Milk Testing 4.5% Fat 


I 

II 

III. ... 


50 
50 
50 


4.5 

4.5 
4.5 


2.25 
2.25 
2.25 


7 
7 
7 


6.25 1 34 1 2.12 
6.5 32 1 2.08 
6.25 31.5 1 1.96 


45.5 .02 
44.8 .1 
44.7 .05 


.01 
.05 
.02 


Aver. . 


50 


4.5 


2.25 


7 


6.3 1 32.5 1 2.05 


45 .06 


.03 


Milk Testing 6% Fat 


I 

" 

III. ... 


50 
50 
50 


6 3 
6 3 
6 3 


7 
7 
7 


6.5 1 40.7 1 2.65 
6.5 I 40 1 2.6 
6.5 1 36 1 2.34 


44 
44 
44 


.12 
.10 
.2 


.052 
.044 
.088 


Aver. . 


50 


6 3 


7 


6.5 1 39 1 2.53 


44 


.14 


.061 



The above illustration shows that with a ratio of skim milk 
to cream of 85 to 15 and all other conditions remaining con- 



1915. 



1 Hunziker. — Why Cream Tests Vary. Purdue Bulletin No. 150, 1911 and 



106 



Conditions Affecting Richness of Cre;am 



stant, three per cent milk produces 20 per cent cream, four 
and one-half per cent milk produces 30 per cent cream and 
six per cent milk produces 40 per cent cream. The correct- 
ness of this rule is further demonstrated by results of sepa- 
rator experiments conducted by the Purdue University Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, as summarized in table 11. 

Similar results were also obtained by Eckles and Wayman^ 
and by Guthrie.^ 

It is further interesting to note that the difference in the rich- 
ness of cream from milk of different per cents of fat increases 
as the ratio of skim milk to cream becomes wider. This rule is 
shown in the following figures. 



Table 12. — Relation of Richness of Cream to Ratio of Skim 
Milk to Cream. 



Ratio of Skim 


Per Cent Fat in Cream from 


Difiference in Per 


Milk to Cream 


3 Per Cent Milk 


6 Per Cent Milk 


Cent Fat in Cream 


80 to 20 


IS 


30 


15 


85 to 15 


20 


40 


20 


90 to 10 


30 


60 


30 



The per cent of fat in the milk separated does not appreciably 
affect the skimming efficiency, the per cent of fat found in the 
skim milk from rich and poor milk being practically the same. 

Effect of Speed of Separator on Richness of Cream. — The 
higher the speed of the separator the higher the per cent of fat 
in the cream. This rule applies in the case of most separators 
and under most conditions. The influence of the speed on the 
richness of the cream is largely due to the direct effect of the 
speed on the ratio of skim milk to cream. 

The higher the speed the greater the centrifugal force and 
the more rapidly will the skim milk leave the bowl. An increase 
in speed therefore increases the capacity of the skim milk dis- 
charge. This means less milk for the cream outlet and con- 
sequently richer cream. A decrease in the speed lessens the 



1 Eckles and Wayman. — Factors Affecting the Per Cent of Fat in Cream 
from Farm Separators. Missouri Bulletin 94, 1911. 

^ Guthrie. — Variations in the Tests for Fat in Cream and in Skimmed 
Milk. Cornell Bulletin 360, 1915. 



Conditions Affecting Richness of Crfam 



107 



centrifugal force, retards the escape of the skim milk, reduces 
the capacity of the skim milk outlet and more milk has to be 
discharged through the cream outlet. The cream, therefore, is 
thinner. In the following table are summarized results of ex- 
periments^ showing the effect of the speed of the separator on 
the richness of the cream. 



Table 13.- 


-Effect of Speed of Separator on Richness of Cream. 


Experi- 




Time of 

Separation 

Min. 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


ment 
No. 


1 Fat 
Lbs. 1 % 


Fat 
Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Fat Fat 
% Lbs. 



Low Speed 



I 


9 
9 
9 


9.5 
9.5 
9.7 


11 
10 
11.5 


1.05 

.95 

1.12 


40.3 
39.6 
39.8 


2.8 
2.9 
2.5 


1.1 


II 


1.15 


Ill 


1 






Average 


9 


9.6 


10.8 


1.04 


39.9 


2.73 


1.08 





N 


ormal Speed 










I 


5.5 

7 

7 


5.2 41.5 
4.7 45 
5.1 40 


2.17 
2.12 
2.04 


44.8 
44.8 
44.5 


.04 
.07 
.07 


.02 


11 


.03 


Ill 


.03 






Average 


6.5 


5 42.2 


2.11 


44.7 


.06 


.03 



High Speed 



I 


6 

6.5 

6.5 


3.3 

3.5 
3.1 


65.5 
59.5 
65 


2.1 

2.08 
2.02 


46.5 
45.9 
46.6 


.01 
.03 
.06 




II 


.01 


Ill 


.03 






Average 


6.33 


3.3 


62.7 


2.07 


46.3 


.03 


.01 



These facts apply with all separators and under all con- 
ditions where the skim milk and cream exits are so adjusted 
that the skim milk outlet is farther from the center of the bowl 
than the cream outlet. This is the case with most separators 
and under most conditions. 

Additional factors which may enter into the causes of richer 
cream, as the result of higher speed, are the reduced relative 
friction in the skim milk outlet, due to the larger volume of skim 
milk discharged and the increased relative friction in the cream 
outlet due to the greater viscosity of the richer cream. Further- 
more, the more complete separation in the case of high speed 
may in part at least be conducive of richer cream. 



1 Hunziker. — Why Cream Tests Vary. Purdue Bulletin No. 150, 1911. 



108 



Conditions Affecting Richness of Cream 



[EfrFiKgiF m s[p[E[E® wm m^ mmm$§ ®\f mm\}^ » 



/mmi^PEi 









S 



¥¥' 






LOW§P£ED 









W6H^PEED 



> «J»* 










Pigf. 13 

However, the efifect of the speed of the separator varies to 
some extent with the richness of the cream for which the sep- 
arator is set. When set for rich cream there is a greater difference 
in the per cent of fat of the resulting' cream between high speed 
and low speed than when set for thin cream. This is due to the 
fact that when the machine is adjusted to produce rich cream, 
the relative difference between the distance of the skim milk and 
cream outlets from the center of the bowl is proportionately 
greater, the proportion of skim milk discharged is larger, less 
milk is left to pass out with the cream, the cream is richer and 
the influence of the speed is greater than when the separator is 
set for thin cream. When set for thin cream the relative dif- 
ference between the distance of the skim milk and cream outlets 
from the center is smaller, the effect of the speed on the capacity 
of the skim milk and cream discharge is more nearly equalized, 
causing less variation in the richness of the cream due to changes 
in speed. 

In separators, or under conditions, causing the cream outlet 
to be located farther from the center than the skim milk outlet, 
a high speed will even yield less skim milk, more cream and 
thinner cream than a lov/ speed. This is the case with the 
Simplex separator, for instance, when adjusted to produce thin 



Conditions Af'FEcting Richness of Cream 



109 



cream, as shown in Table 14, representing results obtained by 
Eckles and Wayman.^ 

Table 14.— Effect of Speed. Simplex Separator No. 2 (1540). 

Full speed 50 revolutions of crank per minute. 

Three-fourths speed 37 revolutions of crank per minute. 

Half speed 25 revolutions of crank per minute. 

Temperature uniformly 90°. 



Speed 



o 

5S^ 



6c 

1.1 

O ai.S 

EH 



^ s 






fa.M 


o 


C.6 






(Li- 



17 



18 



19 



20 



Full Speed 

Three-fourths Speed 

Half Speed 

Full Speed 

Three-fourths Speed 

Half Speed 

Full Speed 

Three-fourths Speed 

Half Speed 

Full Speed 

Three-fourths Speed. 
Half Speed 



3.126 


16.684 


19.810 


3.200 


16.522 


19.722 


3.128 


16.532 


19.660 


2.448 


17.490 


19.938 


2.708 


16.896 


19.604 


3.052 


16.576 


19.628 


4.238 


15.645 


19.883 


3.863 


15.975 


19.838 


3.206 


16.433 


19.639 


4.365 


15.723 


20.088 


3.975 


15.969 


19.944 


2.868 


16.826 


19.694 ! 



1—5.33 
1—5.16 
1—5.29 
1—7.14 
•1—6.23 
1-5.43 
1—3.69 
1—4.13 
1—5.11 
1—3.59 
1—4.03 
1—5.85 



31.3 
31.3 
30.2 
30.1 
29.0 
28.9 
39.6 
39.8 
35.4 
35.6 
30.0 
29.8 
21.4 
21.4 
23.2 
23.1 
26.8 
26.8 
20.6 
20.6 
22.2 
22.2 
28.0 
28.2 



.02 
.03 
.06 
.06 
.31 
.32 
.03 
.03 
.06 
.05 
.20 
.23 
.03 
.03 
.07 
.07 
.25 
.25 
.03 
.03 
.05 
.06 
.36 
.36 



5.0 
5.0 
5.0 
5.1 
5.1 
5.1 
4.9 
4.9 
4.9 
4.8 
4.8 
4.8 



The above table shows that, while with rich cream the ratio 
of skim milk to cream and the per cent of fat in the cream de- 
creased as the speed was reduced, with cream low in fat the 



^ Eckles and Wayman. — Factors Affecting the Per Cent of Fat in Cream 
from Farm Separators. Missouri BuUetin No. 94, 1911. 



no 



Conditions Affi^cting Richness of Cream 



reverse was the case. As the speed was reduced the ratio of skim 
milk to cream and the per cent of fat in cream increased. These 
differences are due to the relative position of the skim milk and 
cream outlets. 

Effect of Rate of Inflow on the Richness of the Cream. — The 
rate of inflow exerts a marked influence on the richness of the 
cream as shown in the table below. 



Table 15. — Effect of Rate of Inflow on Richness of Cream. 



Experi- 


Milk 


Time of 
Separa- 
tion 
Min. 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


ment 

No. 


Lbs. 


Fat 

% 


Fat 
Lbs. 


1 Fat 1 Fat 
Lbs. 1 % 1 Lbs. 


Fat 
Lbs. % 


Fat 
Lbs. 











Small 


Inflow 










I 

II 

III. ... 


50 
50 
50 


4.3 

4.4 
4.8 


2.15 

2.2 

2.4 


11 

11 

•12 


2.86 1 70 
3.12 1 68 j 
3.42 1 71.5 1 


2.02 
2.12 
2.44 


46.7 
46.4 
46.3 


.05 
.12 
.08 


.02 
.06 
.04 


Aver. . . 


50 


4.5 


2.25 


11J3 


3.13 1 70 1 


2.19 


46.5 


.08 


.04 



Normal Inflow 



I 

II 

Ill 


50 
50 
50 


4.3 
4.4 
3.8 


2.15 

2.2 

2.4 


7 
7 

7 


5.5 1 37.5 1 2.06 
5.37 1 40 I 2.15 
4.37 1 58.5 1 2.55 


44.2 
44.1 
45.5 


.1 

.05 

.03 


.04 
.02 
.01 


Aver. . . 


50 


4.5 


2.25 


7 


5.08 1 44.3 1 2.25 


44.6 


.06 


.02 











Large 


Inflow 










I 

II 

Ill 


50 
50 
50 


4.3 
4.4 
4.8 


2.15 

2.2 

2.4 


6 
6 
6 


4.5 1 23.5 1 
7.75 26.5 I 
4.86 1 51.7 


1.06 
2.05 
2.51 


45.1 
42.1 
44.7 


.25 
.27 
.05 


.11 
.11 
.02 


Aver. . . 


50 


4.5 


2.25 


6 


5.70 1 32.8 1 


1.87 


44 


.19 


.08 



The results in table 15 show that the richness of the cream 
increases as the rate of inflow decreases and vice versa. This 
is due to the fact that when the rate of inflow increases the 
capacity of the cream outlet increases proportionately greater 
than the capacity of the skim milk outlet, while a decrease in 
the inflow causes a greater decrease in the capacity of the cream 
outlet than in that of the skim milk outlet. The average re- 
sults of experiments with a small, normal and large inflow as 
tabulated above show the following proportion of cream to skim 
milk, Table 16. 



Conditions Affecting Richness of Cream 



111 



\iwmi! m [^^'ffd m miFim Mm\^ m^^w 



mmmi 



noRHAL innow . 
J0OIB5. or y^/T/z/r 
avrrA/// /21BS or/^?- 



m 






— A» 



TUT arsPjC4/y = ^a /*■ 



LAR6EJ/yFlOW 







— 3a 

5 









SMALL WFIOW 



Wl^^ 









Fig. 14 

Table 16.— Effect of Rate of Inflow on Ratio of Skim Milk 

to Cream. 



Rate of Inflow 


Cream 


Skim 


Milk 


Ratio of 
Cream to 




Lbs. 1 % 


Lbs. 1 


% 


Skim Milk 


50 lbs. in 11 Minutes 


3.13 1 6.26 


46.5 j 


93 


1 : 14.86 


50 lbs. in 7 Minutes. 


5.08 1 10.16 


44.6 1 


89.2 


1: 8.78 


50 lbs. in 6 Minutes. 


5.70 1 11.40 


44.0 1 


88.0 


1: 1.12 



It was formerly assumed that the skim milk discharge was 
constant and was not influenced by the rate of inflow and that 
all the additional milk of an increased inflow would escape 
through the cream discharge. The above experimental results 
show this to be erroneous. The skim milk discharge increased 
very materially with the increase in the rate of inflow as shown 
in Table 16 and in the following summary •} 



^ Hunziker. — Why Cream Tests Vary. Purdue Agr. Expt. Station. 
No. 150, 1911. 



Bull. 



112 



Conditions Affecting Richness of CrFam 



Small inflow . 
Normal inflow 
Larsre inflow . 



46.5 

11 

44.6 

7 
44.0 



Skim milk discharged 

per minute 
4.23 pounds 



.6.37 pounds 
.7.33 pounds 



^ ^ 6 

Effect of Temperature of Milk on Richness of Cream. — The 
temperature of the milk influences the richness of the cream 
yielded by the separator to a marked degree. 

Table 17. — Showing Effect of Temperature of Milk on Richness 

of Cream.^ 



Experi- 


Time of 
Separa- 
tion 
Min. 


Milk 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


ment 
No. 


Lbs. 


Fat 1 Fat 
% 1 Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Fat 

% 


Fat 
Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Fat 1 Fat 
% 1 Lbs. 



Normal Temperature — 90 to 95° F. 



L ... 


7 


SO 


3.8 


1.9 


9 


17.5 


1.58 


41 


.03 


.01 


11 ... 


5 


31.5 


4.1 


1.29 


4.5 


28 


1.26 


27 


.03 


.01 


in. . 


8 


50 


4 


2 


9.7 


20.5 


2 


40.9 


.02 


.01 


IV. , 


8.5 


50 


4 


2 


10.1 


20 


2.02 


39.8 


.01 




V. .. 


7.5 


50 


4 


2 


10.1 


20 


2.02 


40.3 


.01 




Aver. 


7.2 


46.3 


3.98 


1.84 


8.68 


21.2 


1.78 


37.8 


.02 


,.01 







Low 


Tern 


perature — 50 to 60 


° F. 








I 


9 


50 


3.8 


1.9 


2 32.5 


.65 


48 


1.50 


n 


II 


7 


32 


4.1 


1.31 


1.5 43 


.65 


28.5 


2.10 


.63 


III. ... 


7.5 


50 


4 


2 


7.2 27 


1.94 


43.6 


.05 


.02 


IV. ... 


7.5 


50 


4 


2 


7.3 28 


2.04 


44.3 


.03 


.01 


V 


7.5 


50 


4 


2 


7.2 28 


2.02 


44.1 


.05 


.02 


Aver. . 


1 7.6 


46.4 


3.98 


1.84 


5.04 31.7 


1.46 


41.7 


.75 


.28 



The experimental results summarized in the above table 
show that cold milk yields richer cream than warm milk. The 
cream from the cold milk averaged 31.7 per cent fat, while the 
cream from milk separated at 90 to 95 degrees F. averaged 21.2 
per cent fat. The difference would probably have been con- 
siderably greater, had it 'not been for the excessive loss of fat in 
the skim milk from the cold milk, which reduced the amount 
of fat supplying the cream discharge. 

The cream from the cold milk is thicker and more viscous 
than that from the warm milk. This greater viscosity renders 

JTiunziker, Why Cream Tests Vary, Purdue Bulletin 150, 1911. 



Conditions Affkcting Richness of Cream 



113 



it more sluggish in its escape from the bowl, it passes off more 
slowly, thereby decreasing the capacity of the cream outlet, and 
more of the milk is forced through the skim milk outlet. 



[KFf^dCT (o)[F ?[E»[El^/^™[^[ 



©IFgElllM 



/00/is. or v.o^ /?///( 



m^'TTz^W/, 



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— JO 



/d.7/6i c/f£AMC(yfm/ns 9.o/st rAT 
7rsr<yrc/?£A/f -2/.v^ 



(T/iTAn CaA/TArnS 3.7/i: f?T 

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ii.iy- 



/o.f/Sj d-ATArf ca^rA/m 3.7 /is nr 
7zjrar<rA?£A/?-'33!fy- 



Fig-. 15 

The fact that the cold milk has a higher specific gravity 
than the warm milk may cause the skim milk to escape with 
slightly more force, thus further increasing the capacity of the 
skim milk outlet. It is not improbable, also, that the warm milk 
is sufficiently more fluid than the cold milk to increase the rate 
of inflow and thereby increase the relative volume of the cream 
discharge in greater proportion than the skim milk discharge. 
The results above recorded, however, fail to show a uniform in- 
crease in the rate of inflow of the warm milk; in fact in two 
out of five experiments the opposite was the case. 

In the case of some separators the bowl commences to clog 
when cold milk is passed through the machine. When this 
happens the cream from the cold milk is usually thinner than 
that from the warm milk. A part of the butterfat in the bowl, 
churns into a roll of butter and only a sm,all amount of cream 
is discharged and this cream is very low in butterfat. This phe- 
nomenon is shoAvn in table 18. 



114 



Conditions Affi^ctinc Richness of Cream 



Table 18. — Effect of Low Temperature of Milk on Richness of 
Cream when Bowl Clogs/ 



Temper- 
ature 


Time of 
Separa- 
tion 
Min. 


Milk 


Cream 


Skim Milk 


Lbs. 


Fat 
% 


Fat 
Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Fat 

% 


Fat 
Lbs. 


Lbs. 


Fat 

% 


Fat 
Lbs. 


95° F.... 
50° F.... 


4 
7 


32 
30 


4.1 
4.1 


1.31 

1.23 


4.5 
1.5 


26 
12 


1.17 
.18 


26 

25 


.03 
3.6 


.01 
.90 



As already stated in chapter on "Effect of Temperature of 
Milk on the Skimming- Efficiency of the Separator," as far as the 
farm separator is concerned, the milk is in the best condition 
for separation in every respect, immediately after each milking. In 
the factory, facilities for heating the milk to and holding it at 
90 degrees F. or over should be provided. 

Effect of Amount of Water or Skim Milk used to Flush the 
Bowl on Richness of Cream. — While this is strictly a minor fac- 
tor in the control of the richness of the cream, it should be 
understood that the indiscriminate flushing of the bowl may 
dilute the cream unnecessarily. 

It is very desirable that the bowl be properly flushed after 
each separation. This removes most of the remnants of milk 
and cream, and loosens the separator slime in the bowl, making 
subsequent washing more easy. In order to accomplish this, all 
that is necessary is to run water into the bowl until the dis- 
charge spout appears watery. 

Table 19.— Effect of Amount of Water Used to Flush the Bowl 
on the Richness of the Cream.^ 





Amount Water U 


sed to Flush Bowl 










Twice the 


Experi- 




Same as 


Till Cream 


Amt. Needed 


ment 


None 


Capacity 


Discharge 


for Watery 


No. 




of Bowl 


was Watery- 


Cream Dis- 
charge 




Fat % 


Fat % 


Fat % 


Fat % 


I 


32 


32 


31 


29 


II 


30 


30 


29 


28 


Ill 


58 


56 


51 


48 


IV 


31 


31 


30 


29 


Average. . . 


37.8 


37.3 


35 


33.5 



1 Hunzlker, -Why Cream Tests Vary, Purdue Bulletin 150, 1911. 



Advantages of Centrifugal Separator 



lis 



Effect of Slime in Bowl of Separator on Richness of Cream. 

— Experiments conducted by Guthrie and Supplee^ show that 
deposits of slime in the bowl do not have any appreciable efifect 
on the richness of the cream so long as the slime does not clog 
the passages. 
Advantages of Centrifugal Separator over Gravity Creaming. 
The operation of the centrifugal separator has undisputed 
advantages over the gravity systems of creaming. The chief of 
these are: 

1. Greater skimming efficiency. 

2. Richer cream. 

3. Better quality of cream and skim milk 

4. More uniform richness of cream 

Greater Skimming EfBciency. — The centrifugal separator is 
the most efficient apparatus available for the separation of milk. 
Below table shows the relative skimming efficiency as secured 
experimentally.^ 

Table 20.— Per cent of Fat in Cream and Skim Milk of the Four 
Different Systems of Creaming under Most Favorable Conditions. 



Hand Separator 


Deep-Sett 


ing 


Sha 


How Pan 


Wat 


er-Dilution 






Skim 






Skim 






Skim 




iSkim 


Milk 


Cream 


Milk 


Milk 


Cream 


Milk 


Milk 


Cream 


Milk 


Milk 


Cream 


Milk 


Lbs. 


% 


% 


Lbs. 


% 


% 


Lbs. 


% 


% 


Lbs. 


% 


% 




Fat 


Fat 




Fat 


Fat 




Fat Fat 




Fat 


Fat 


31 


33. 


.01 


20 


32. 


.2 


50 


30. 


.55 


64 


22. 


.70 


31 


29. 


.03 


30 


29. 


.15 


50 


26. 


.40 


64 


21.5 


.68 


40 


34. 


.01 


27 


27. 


.16 


52 


31. 


.38 


60 


25. 


.70 


34 


30. 


.02 


30 


30. 


.18 


48 


32. 


.42 


60 


26. 


.60 


35 


32. 


.02 


28 


32. 


.18 


50 


26. 


.46 


56 


25.5 


.74 


34 


33. 


.03 


26 


26. 


.15 


50 


27. 


.44 


56 


24. 


.68 


46 


33. 


.01 


28 


24.5 


.17 


52 


25. 


.48 


60 


31. 


.72 


38 


30. 


.02 


25 


28. 


.15 














50 


32. 


.02 


30 


25.5 


.18 














38 


30. 


.02 


30 


28. 


.18 














38 


28. 


.02 




















38 


33. 


.02 




















Average .02 


.17 


.44 


.68 



A glance at the above table reveals the superiority of the 



1 Guthrie and Supplee, Variations in the Tests for Fat in Cream and Skim 
Milk Cornell Bulletin 360, 1915. 

2 Hunziker, The Hand Separator and the Gravity Systems of Creaming, Pur- 
due Bulletin 116, 1906. 



116 



Advantages of Centrifugal Separator 



centrifugal separator over the gravity systems of creaming Even 
in the deep-setting system, which causes the least loss of fat 
in the skim milk of any of the gravity systems, the loss of fat 
is 8.5 times as great as that incurred with the centrifugal separa- 
tor; the shallow pan and water dilution system lost 22 and 34 
times, respectively, as much fat in the skim milk as the cen- 
trifugal separator. 

The loss of butter fat with the gravity system of creaming 
would probably have been even greater, had an attempt been 
made to secure a richer cream. For buttermaking, cream con- 
taining from 30 to 35 per cent fat is most suitable. It is difficult, 
even under the best conditions, with the gravity systems, to 
produce cream testing 30 per cent fat, it is practically impos- 
sible to do so without a material increase in the per cent of fat 
lost in the skim milk. 

Expressed in pounds of butter lost in the skim milk of one 
cow in one year, the loss assumes an importance which no pro- 
gressive dairyman can afford to ignore. It is obvious that even 
at very moderate butter prices, the centrifugal separator in the 
skimming of the milk of a herd of 5 to 10 cows would save 
enough butterfat in less than two years to pay for itself, as 
shown in table 21. These figures are based on the assumption 
that each 100 pounds of milk yields 87 pounds of skim milk, that 
a 20 per cent overrun is secured and that butter sells at 50 cents 
per pound. 

Table 21. — Loss Incurred by the Four Systems of Creaming at 
50 Cents per Pound of Butter in One Year. 



Cows 


Milk 


Value of Butter Lost by the Use of Different 
Methods of Creaming 


No. 


Pounds 


Hand 

Separator 

$ 


Deep 
Setting 
Method 

$ 


Shallow 

Pan 
Method 

$ 


Water 

Dilution 

Method 

$ 


1 

5 

10 


5,000 
25,000 
50,000 


.52 
2.60 
5.20 


4.44 
22.19 
44.37 


11.48 

57.40 

114,80 


17.75 

88.74 

177.48 



Better Quality and Richer Cream. — The centrifugal separa- 
tor makes it possible for the creamery and for the dairy farmer 



Advantages of Centrifugal Separator 117 

to secure a pure, sweet and wholesome cream which can be 
made into a first class butter. In the whole milk creamery, 
where the buttermaker has exclusive control over the cream as 
soon as it leaves the separator, conditions are most ideal and 
the verdict of the butter markets of this country is proof of the 
fact that our best butter comes from the whole-milk creameries. 

The cream that arrives at our gathered cream plants, as a 
general rule does not grade high enough to make "Extras." 
This fact is one of the main drawbacks of the gathered cream 
plant. While much of this cream is hand separator cream, the 
fault cannot be attributed to the separator. It is obvious that 
just as good cream can be produced by the use of the hand 
separator as with the factory machine. The fault lies not with 
the use, but with the abuse of the separator. When proper at- 
tention is given to cleanliness in the operation of the separator 
and the handling of the cream, to prompt cooling and to frequent 
delivery, the resulting cream is bound to be in proper condition 
to make good butter. 

Not so, however, where the cream is separated by gravity. 
The gravity cream is to-day considered the scum of the raw 
material which the creameries receive. Creameries which 
practice systematic grading are generally forced to place gravity 
cream in their lowest grade and many creameries pay several 
cents less for such cream than for separator cream. 

There are many reasons for the inferiority of gravity cream : 
It is usually old because time is required for setting. It is 
always relatively low in butter fat and this, together with its 
age, causes it under average conditions to be of very poor quality 
by the time it reaches the creamery. Its dilution deprives the 
buttermaker of the opportunity to improve it by the addition of 
starter. This thin cream yields a relatively large amount of 
buttermilk which in turn means heavy loss of fat. This loss is 
increased also by the fact that this thin cream, especially when 
pasteurized, does not churn out exhaustively and finally the 
cream, owing to its thinness and its usual contamination with 
undesirable ferments, deteriorates rapidly, yielding a low grade 
of butter. 



118 Receiving Milk and Cream 

Chapter VI. 
RECEIVING MILK AND CREAM. 

When the milk or cream is received by the creamery, or 
cream station and before it enters the manufacturing process, it 
is graded, weighed, sampled and "dumped" and the cans are 
washed, rinsed, steamed and dried and retagged preparatory to 
returning. 

Grading of Cream, Importance. — iFrom the standpoint of 
improving the quality of cream received by the creamery the use 
of an efficient system of cream grading is all important. Until 
recent years the cream grading has received very little attention 
by our creameries. Little, if any grading was done and the same 
price was paid for good and poor cream. This has resulted in 
a general depreciation of the quality of the cream furnished by 
the farmer, there was no material inducement to the farmer to 
make a special effort in the care of the cream on the farm. 
Unless his personal pride and decency prompted him to produce 
a clean, sanitary and properly cooled cream, he was all too ready 
to "follow the line of the least resistance and pay no attention 
to the quality of the cream he furnished. In fact, the failure of 
the creamery to grade cream put a premium on shiftless and 
careless handling of cream on the farm and on the receipt of 
poor cream in the factory. 

In consequence of this disregard for quality of raw material, 
much of the butter annually reaching the market was of un- 
satisfactory quality, the keeping property of much of this but- 
ter was inferior, causing it to come out of storage in deteriorated 
condition, large quantities of butter had to be sold under market 
quotations, inviting keen competition by foreign butter and but- 
ter substitutes and rendering the establishment of a reputation 
for American butter in foreign countries exceedingly slow and 
difficult. 

Development of Cream Grading. — Within the last five to 
ten years, the pure food wave that has swept the country awaken- 
ing the public to a keener appreciation of the value of whole- 
some food products of good qualit}^ the realization on the 



Rejceiving Milk and Cream 119 

part of the creamerymen of the necessity of supplying the market 
with bettter butter in order to dispose of it at a satisfactory mar- 
gin, and the efforts of the dairy educational forces to introduce 
practical methods for the systematic grading of cream, have been 
mighty factors in focusing the attention of the creamerymen on 
improving their cream supply by cream grading and quality- 
paying. 

The earlier efforts at cream grading were largely abortive. 
In isolated cases some concerns had the courage and determina- 
tion to grade and pay on the basis of grade only. But the great 
majority of creameries, while acknowledging the fundamental 
correctness of cream grading, lacked the courage to undertake 
it. Their intentions foundered on the rock of competition in 
the cream supply territory. They lacked confidence in each other 
to stand by mutual agreements to start grading and quality-pay- 
ing. They were fearful of losing patrons and of working into 
the hands of their competitors. Gentlemen's agreements, drafted 
in sectional and national conferences of creamerymen to grade 
cream proved futile. Attempts to place legislative measures on 
the statute books, requiring the grading of cream proved uncon- 
stitutional, and Government inspection of the creameries for the 
purpose of compelling nation-wide cream grading did not ma- 
terialize because of the enormity of the proposed undertaking. 

While most of these proposed and apparently ideal plans 
failed to materialize and were automatically abandoned, one after 
another, the constant agitation of the subject did not fail to 
have its good effect. While it became clear to all practical 
creamerymen that the industry was not ripe as yet for an 
organized state- or nation-wide plan of cream grading by mutual 
agreement between creameries, farsighted creamerymen realized 
that this complex and difficult matter was a problem to be solved 
independently by each individual creamery and that it was to 
the unquestioned advantage of each individual concern to in- 
troduce cream grading in their own plants. ' 

Today most of the really progressive creameries, large and 
small, are grading their cream and many of these creameries pay 
the farmer on the basis of quality. Those who have taken this 



120 Rdcejiving MiIvK and CrEam 

important step are already convinced of its permanent advan- 
tages and it is only a question of time when all creameries, for 
their own protection, will adopt a rational system of cream grad- 
ing- and paying on the basis of quality. They are bound 
to come to the inevitable conclusion that, in order to secure 
satisfactory returns from the market, they must furnish the 
market with good butter, that they cannot hold the patronage 
of the cream producer to furnish good cream unless they pay 
him a differential on the basis of quality, and that the paying of 
top prices for butterfat of poor quality must ultimately spell 
financial loss and ruin. 

Methods of Grading. — One of the serious obstacles that has 
been responsible for miuch delay in the general adoption of grad- 
ing cream has been the difficulty of doing this work correctly, 
and the absence of a method practical, rapid and applicable under 
average creamery conditions. Efforts to use chemical, physical 
or bacteriological tests that would yield results of specific de- 
scription and that would make possible the expression of different 
grades in mathematical figures, have so far failed to solve this 
difficult problem of cream grading. Such tests as the acid test, 
the boiling test, the sediment test, the curd test, the fermenta- 
tion test, the microscopic test, which have been in successful use 
in market milk plants and milk condenseries for years, were 
found either mechanically impractical with cream, or their results 
were unsuited for the proper classification of different grades of 
cream. The acid test is practically the only test that could be 
applied under average conditions of cream and creamery manage- 
ment. But its results too, lack conclusiveness, because they fail 
to furnish a correct index to the relative fitness of cream for 
buttermaking. While, generally speaking, sweet cream is pref- 
erable to sour cream, the acidity in cream is by no means the 
chief defect of cream of inferior quality. This test has there- 
fore never been adopted for general use in creameries. 

The really important characteristics of cream which deter- 
mine its quality, are its odor and flavor and these can be deter- 
mined successfully only by the senses of smell and taste. Ef- 
ficient cream grading, therefore, of necessity resolves itself into 



Rkceiving Milk and CrEam 121 

the tasting and smelling of the cream and the success of this 
method is controlled largely by the grader's keenness of these 
senses and his knowledge and ability to quickly decide on the 
proper placing of cream so graded. 

Grading by the Senses of Taste and Smell. — The earlier at- 
tempts to grade cream by this method were crude, unsightly and 
unsanitary at best. The operator sampled the cream by stick- 
ing his fingers into the cream and "licking" them off. Aside from 
the ethical and sanitary aspect, this practice was objectionable 
because the results were very crude, did not permit of close 
grading and often were misleading. By this practice there is 
always danger of carrying the flavor of one can to the next, con- 
siderable cream adhering to the fingers after tasting it. In this 
way the bad flavor of the first can may also be detected in the 
tasting of the next can, although the cream in the second can 
may be entirely free from that flavor. Thus the second can 
would naturally be erroneously put in the same grade as the first. 

The objectionable features of this method have been cor- 
rected in many of the more progressive creameries by tasting the 
cream with a wooden stick, glass rod or spoon, placed in hot 
water between dippings. 

A very satisfactory practice of grading cream is the fol- 
lowing: 

Apparatus needed: 

Two wooden sticks, about the size of an ordinary lead pencil 
and preferably of maple. 

One tin cup about 8 inches deep with handle. 

One cream stirring rod with perforated disc at lower end. 

One dental spittoon resting on a pipe standard about 3 feet 
high and with a pipe base sufficiently large to prevent tipping 
over. This spittoon should be attached to the water line by means 
of small rubber tubing about 15 feet long. 

Operating the Grading Test: 

Stir the cream in the can vigorously with the cream stir- 
rer, take its odor by bending over the freshly stirred cream. 



122 Re^ceiving Milk and Cream 

From the tin cup filled with hot water take a clean maple wood 
stick, dip up with it a small amount of cream, taste it, return 
the stick to the hot water in the tin cup and use the second 
stick for the next can. By this m.ethod the hot water melts the 
cream ofi* one stick while the other one is used, and thus insures 
its freedom from cream of the previous can when it is again used. 
Enough cream adheres to the end of a stick of the size of the 
average lead pencil for proper tasting. A larger amount of cream 
is unnecessary as well as objectionable for convenient grading. 

The dental spittoon serves to catch the expectorations of 
the cream by the grader. This is preferable to spitting on the 
floor, which is unsightly and often unsanitary. The spittoon, 
being connected with the water line by a long, flexible rubber 
tubing, can be shifted around at will and it stands high enough 
to furnish an easy target avoiding splashing over the cans. The 
expectorations are automatically rinsed out of the spittoon and 
disappear on the floor through the hollow pipe standard sup- 
porting it. 

It is advisable to grade closely and to allow to pass as first- 
grade cream only, cans which are free from specific defects and 
which are above suspicion and to pull out and place in second 
grade all cans that do not meet the standard of first grade cream, 
or cans about which the grader is uncertain. All cans segregated 
out in this manner should be graded over and this should prefer- 
ably be done by another man, or the superintendent. Enough time 
should be given and pains taken to regrade this second grade 
cream so as to insure accurate work. This will often enable the 
creamery to return to first grade, cans of cream which at first 
sight proved uncertain, thus increasing the per cent of grade 1 
and decreasing the per cent of grade II. If any cans are found 
with decayed cream or cream otherwise unfit to be made into 
butter, their contents should be poured into the sewer and the 
patron should be so notified. The sanitary laws of some states 
require such procedure. In case of dispute the co-operation of 
the local or state pure food or health official should be solicited. 
If for any reason it is deemed advisable to return to the farm 
decayed cream, it is advisable to mix into it enough butter color 
to preclude all temptation on the part of the producer to send 



Receiving Milk and CrEam 123 

it back to the factory with the next shipment, without ready 
detection by the creamery. When cream is hauled or shipped 
to the creamery in the farmer's individual can the creamery us- 
ually has' little difficulty in keeping the several grades separate. 

In the station system of cream receiving, the farmers haul 
their cream to the station, where it can be graded in a similar 
manner as in the creamery. After grading, it is shipped to the 
central creamery in completely filled shipping cans. In this case 
the operator should exercise great care not to pour cream of dif- 
ferent grades together in the same can, but to use different cans 
for different grades and mark the grade on the respective cans. 
At the creamery the station cream is regraded and if the results 
of the creamery's grading materially differ from those of the 
station operator's grading, the operator should be so notified. 

In the case of the route system of receiving cream the route 
man should have on his wagon properly marked cans for each 
grade. He should grade the cream received from each farmer 
and pour it into the cans reserved for that grade. When the 
route cream arrives at the creamery it is regraded and if the 
results of the grading at the creamery differ from those of the 
route man or hauler, his attention should be called to the same 
promptly. 

The grader should record all second grade cream with nota- 
tions of the specific defect, on the shipping tag or other blank 
which goes to the office, and the office should promptly notify 
the patron why his cream did not pass grade 1, with sugges- 
tions of how to best guard against the recurrence of the defect. 

Classification of Grades. — Much has been said and written 
about specific grades and numerous are the classifications of 
cream grades on record. After all is said and done, each cream- 
ery has to ultimately establish its own individual standard of 
grades, according to its local conditions of supply and of market 
requirements. It is a comparatively simple matter to devise an 
ideal classification of grades, but it is exceedingly difficult to suc- 
cessfully follow such classifications under often very perplexing 
and frequently unideal commercial conditions of operation. 
While every effort should be made to work toward a high stan- 



124 Rkce;iving Mii.k and Cream 

dard of classification, the commercial practicability of the classi- 
fication is of the greatest ultimate importance. One of the ob- 
stacles in the way of the general adoption of cream grading has 
been that the classifications of grades have often been far too 
exacting and complex to make their operation successful. In 
such cases, after a few abortive attempts at grading the whole 
principle of grading was declared impracticable and was aban- 
doned. The adoption of a classification that corresponds more 
nearly with actual commercial conditions, though it may be far 
from ideal, usually is conducive of better net results, than at- 
tempts at the use of a classification that borders perfection, but 
that is commercially impossible under prevailing conditions. For 
the great majority of creameries, a classification of two grades is 
all that may reasonably be expected. Creameries that supply a 
limited, very critical trade, demanding a superior product may 
find it advantageous to make three grades. In such cases the 
following classification may be desirable : 

Grade I. Cream that is sweet or practically so and free from 
all objectionable odors and flavors. 

Grade II. Cream that is sour but otherwise free from objec- 
tionable odors and flavors. 

Grade III. Cream that does not comply with the require- 
ments of Grades I and II but which is free from putrefaction. 
In this class would fall cream that may have objectionable odors 
and flavors, such as weedy, garlic, curdy, gassy, yeasty and other 
ofif-flavors. All cream containing decaying matter or other sub- 
stances of putrefaction should be rejected. 

For creameries whose trade requirements do not discriminate 
between extra fine and fair quality and who are not in a position 
to secure a materially higher price for the superior quality, the 
following classification of grades is recommended : 

Grade I. Cream that is sweet or moderately sour, but free 
from objectionable flavors and odors. 

Grade II. Cream that is free from decaying and putrefactive 
matter but which may be sour and contain objectionable odors 
and flavors, such as weedy, garlic, cheesy, gassy, yeasty and 



Sampung Milk and Cream 125 

other off-flavors. All cream containing decaying matter or sub- 
stances of putrefaction should be rejected. 

Under certain conditions it may be desirable to subdivide 
grade II, or to make three grades instead of two. Some of the 
cream may be impregnated with a very intensive flavor, such as 
intense garlic, yeasty or other similar flavor. In this case it is 
recommended to place in grade II cream with slight off-flavors 
only and into grade III the cream with the highly developed 
off-flavors, always providing, however, that none of this cream 
shows signs of unfitness for food. 

SAMPLING MILK AND CREAM. 

Purpose. — In the case of buying milk or cream for butter- 
making, the only just and business-like basis of payment is pay- 
ment on the basis of the pounds of butter fat received and this 
basis has been adopted by the creameries throughout this country 
This method of payment necessitates the testing of the milk or 
cream for butter fat and the correctness of the test depends in 
the first place on the representativeness of the sample. It is 
of the greatest importance, if accurate tests are to be made, to 
secure a sample from the milk or cream of each patron's delivery, 
or shipment, that is representative of the milk or cream from 
which it is taken, and this in turn is controlled very largely 
by the thoroughness of the preparation of the milk or cream be- 
fore sampling and by the method used for sampling. 

Sampling Milk. — The milk arrives at the creamery or skim- 
ming station almost without exception in the farmer's individual 
cans. If one can only is received from one and the same farmer 
the sample may be taken direct from this can and before the 
milk is "dumped" into the weigh can. In this case the thorough 
agitation of the milk with a stout stirring rod is usually suf- 
ficient to mix it so that a representative sample can be taken. 
In the case more than one can is received from one and the same 
farmer, it is usually most convenient to pour all the milk into 
the weigh can, and take the sample from the mixed milk. 

There are three principal methods of taking milk samples, 
namely, individual samples of all patrons, that are tested daily. 



126 Sampling Milk and Cream 

composite samples that are tested at weekly, bi-weekly or 
monthly intervals, and individual samples of part of the patrons, 
that are tested daily. 

Single Milk Samples for Daily Tests. — In this method the 
milk of each patron's delivery is sampled and tested. This is 
the most accurate and reliable method of sampling. The sample 
is taken either into a glass jar from which later the correct 
amount is transferred to the test bottle, or the sample may be 
pipetted from the properly mixed milk in the weigh can direct 
into the milk test bottle. In this way the extra work of handling 
sample jars and of preparing the milk in the jar for the test is 
made unnecessary, and all danger of fat separation before the 
sample reaches the test bottle is avoided. This is obviously a 
very accurate method of securing tests, but it involves a very 
large, and under commercial conditions of operation an almost 
prohibitive amount of work. On account of this objection this 
method is not in general use and has been very largely 
abandoned. 

Another practice of taking single samples is to take and test 
samples from every other or every third delivery of milk. At 
the end of the month or other period of payment, these individual 
tests are averaged and the pounds of butter-fat are calculated 
by multiplying the average test by the total pounds of milk re- 
ceived for that period. This practice is obviously less reliable 
than where single samples are taken and tested daily. However, 
experimental results indicate that samples taken as often as every 
third day give results which compare very closely with those 
obtained from daily samples, as shown in the next table, illustrat- 
ing relative accuracy of different methods of sampling milk, . 

Composite Samples of Milk. — The purpose of taking com- 
posite samples is to reduce the labor and expense of testing. The 
true composite sample consists of aliquot portions of milk of 
several deliveries from the same patron. 

Jars for Composite Sampling. — Composite sample jars must 
have a tight seal in order to prevent evaporation of moisture. 



Sampung Milk and Cream 



127 




Fig-. 16. Composite 
sample jar 

Courtesy Mojon- 
nier Bros. Co. 



Pint jars sealed with glass stoppers, rubber 
stoppers, cork stoppers, metal caps, or screw 
tops may be used for this purpose. Bottles 
with paper caps and jelly glasses with tin lids 
do not furnish tight seals ; they should not be 
used for this purpose. 

A separate jar is used for each patron, and 
each jar must bear the respective patron's 
number. The jars should be thoroughly clean 
and, in order to guard against errors, they 
should be arranged on convenient shelves near 
the weigh can in numerical order, grouping the 
jars of patrons of the same route together. 
Taking Composite Samples of Milk. — Cor- 
rect composite samples may be obtained by 
the use of a milk thief or a graduated pipette. 
If the milk thief is used, it is inserted into the 
weigh can of the entire delivery of one patron. 
The milk in the tube rises to the level of the 
milk in the weigh can. The milk thief is then emptied into the 
sample jar. In case the graduated pipette is used, a certain 
quantity of milk is taken for every pound of milk delivered by 
the patron (usually about .1 c.c. for every pound of milk de- 
livered). The milk thief is the handier instrument of the two, 
but where the amount of milk delivered by different patrons 
varies considerably, the samples of milk from the larger milk 
producers are often too large to be practical. 

Other so-called composite samples are taken by using the 
same measure for all milk receipts. In this case a small dipper 
holding about one ounce is generally used. With this dipper 
a sample of milk is taken daily from the weigh can of each 
patron's milk and transferred into the sample jar. This method 
of composite sampling is not mathematically correct and the 
results tend to be less reliable, although experimental data by 
Hunziker show that the results average practically the same as 
when aliquot portions are taken. 

The chief objection to composite samples of milk is that 
they are usually held too long before testing. This causes more 
or less complete separation of the butterfat, in the form of a 



128 SA^tPLiNt. Milk and Crkam 

thick and tough layer of cream on the surface of the milk. This 
cream mixes with difficulty back into the remainder of the sample 
so that the portion transferred to the bottle is often not rep- 
resentative of the true richness of the milk. This defect is 
especially pronounced when the samples are not protected 
against high temperature (summer heat). 

Composite samples, if they must be taken, should be kept 
not over one week and tested at the end of this period. They 
should be kept in tightly sealed jars and in the cold. 

In order to prevent composite samples from souring, 
fermenting and curdling before they are tested, it is necessary 
to add a small amount of preservative to the sample jar with 
the first portion of milk. This is most conveniently done in the 
form of tablets of corrosive sublimate or bichromate of potassium. 
One tablet during the winter months will preserve a pint sample 
for at least two weeks. During the hot weather it is advisable 
to add two tablets. Liquid preservatives, such as formaldehyde, 
may also be used in the place of the tablets, but they cause slight 
dilution of the sample and are not considered quite as con- 
venient as the tablets. After each daily addition of milk to the 
composite sample jar, its contents should be gently agitated by 
giving the jar a rotary motion in order to insure a complete 
mixture of the preservative with the entire contents of the jar. 
When agitating, care should be taken that the milk does not 
unnecessarily slobber up along the side of the jar, so as to prevent 
the coating of the side with cream which subsequently dries and 
is difficult to mix back into the remainder of the sample at the 
time of testing. Composite samples should be tightly sealed 
and should not be held longer than one week. In old composite 
samples the cream is prone to be so completely separated from 
the skim milk that it refuses to mix back readily and to form 
a homogeneous emulsion preparatory to testing. 

Individual Samples of Part of the Deliveries only. — In this 
method, each patron's milk is not sampled daily but only every 
third, fourth or fifth day. The patrons are divided into groups. 
Group one is sampled the first day, group two the second day, 
etc., so that each patron's milk may be sampled say eight to 
ten times per month. The tests of these samples are averaged 



Sampling Milk and Cream 



129 



at the end of the month and the patron is paid on the basis of 
this average test. When this is done the time saved in sampling 
permits the pipetting of the sample direct into the test bottle. 

At first glance and from the theoretical point of view this 
method appears crude and lacking in accuracy. However, an, 
extensive series of comparative tests conducted by the writer 
in co-operation with the Indiana Condensed Milk Company at 
Sheridan, Indiana, in which over 5,000 samples were tested, 
demonstrated very conclusively that the results of this inter- 
mittent sampling approached the average of tests of daily 
samples closer than did the results o^ composite samples, as 
shown in the following table : 

Table 22. — Comparative Accuracy of Different Methods of 
Sampling Milk.^ 



Method of Sampling 


Aver- 
age 

Test 

Percent 
Fat 


Average of Act- 
ual Pounds 
Fat, as Deter- 
mined by Act- 
ual Pounds 
Milk Delivered 
by Each Pa- 
tron and by 
Average Fat 
Test of Each 
Patron. 

Pounds Fat 


Aver- 
age 

Varia- 
tion 

from 

Check 

Figures 

Pounds 
Fat 


Single samples, daily (check figures) . . . 

Single samples, every second day 

Single samples, every third day 

Single samples, every fourth day 

Single samples, every fifth day. 


4.95 
4.99 
4.98 
4.98 
4.98 
4.85 
4.90 


31.94 
32.04 
31.98 
31.97 
31.90 
31.72 
31.75 


-L.IO 
+ .04 
+ .03 
—.04 


Composite samples, aliquot portions.... 
Composite samples, equal portion? 


—.22 
—.19 



1 Hunziker. Experiments conducted at factory of Indiana Condensed 
Milk Co., Sheridan, Ind., November, 1913. Single samples, composite samples 
(aliquot portions) and composite samples (equal portions) were taken from 
each of 300 patrons daily for a period of 14 days. The single samples were 
tested daily and the composite samples at the end of the 14 day period. 
The figures in column "Average Test," first column, represent the average 
of all tests of the samples of each patron for each method of sampling. 
There were 4,800 (300x14) single sample tests, 300 composite sample (aliquot 
portion) tests and 300 composite sample (equal portion) tests. The average 
pounds of fat (second column) were determined by multiplying each single 
and composite sample test by the respective pounds of milk these samples 
represented, dividing the product by the number of samples tested. The 
"Average Variation from Check Figures" (third column) was determined by 
deducting the average pounds of fat of each method of sampling from the 
average pounds of fat of all single samples, the average of the single daily 
tests being accepted as standard and used as check figures. 



130 Sampling Milk and Crsam 

The reason why sampling every second, third, fourth or fifth 
day, gave more accurate results than composite sampling must 
be attributed to the fact that in the intermittent sampling the 
sample was transferred from the weigh can direct into the test 
bottle. The portion used for testing, therefore, was bound to be 
representative of the milk from which it was taken, there could 
be no question of inaccuracy due to separation of fat. In the 
composite samples, on the other hand, the cream was separated 
out and in spite of the most painstaking efforts to thoroughly mix 
the cream back into the remainder of the composite sample, the 
portion transferred to the test bottle was of more or less un- 
certain composition. This was the case with and without heating 
the sample before the transfer was made. This investigation 
was made in the month of November under most favorable con- 
ditions for preserving composite samples. Had it been made 
in the month of June, at a time when most of the cows are fresh 
in milk and the milk contains predominatingly large fat globules 
and when the temperature on the receiving platform where the 
samples usually are kept is very high, the separation of cream 
in the sample jar would have been even more complete, the 
layer of cream would have been drier and tougher and less 
miscible and the results of the tests of the composite samples 
would probably have been still more unfavorable. 

Sampling of Cream. — Correct sampling of cream is vastly 
more difficult than correct sampling of milk. This is largely 
due to the fact that the cream usually is older and often lumpy 
and mixes into a homogeneous consistency with difficulty only. 
It is also due to its richness in butterfat. Average cream con- 
tains approximately 10 times as much fat as milk. The possible 
error caused by lack of uniformity in consistency, therefore, is 
greatly augmented. 

Composite samples of cream representing portions of succes- 
sive shipments or deliveries from the same patrons are practically 
out of the question and cannot be too strongly condemned. It is 
difHcult to take small aliquot portions of cream and the tendency 
of cream samples to lose part of their moisture by evaporation, 
upon remaining for several days on the shelves of the warm re- 
ceiving room, causes such samples to yield excessively high and 



Sampling Milk and Cream 131 

misleading tests.^ Then again, the established practice among 
the majority of creameries to pay the farmer for each individual 
shipment of cream precludes the practicability of holding the 
samples and makes necessary prompt testing of the daily 
samples. 

In the case of direct deliveries or shipments of cream by 
the farmer to the creamery or cream station, it is customary 
to stir the cream w^ith a stout stirring rod previous to sampling. 
Pouring the cream from one can to another will also insure thor- 
ough mixing and should be resorted to especially w^hen the can 
is too full to be stirred without danger of spilling. Under all 
ordinary conditions, however, stirring is more practical and con- 
sumes less time than pouring. After the cream is properly 
mixed, a small sample is taken by transferring the cream with 
a small cone-shaped or cup-shaped dipper into a small sample 
tube or jar, which is immediately tightly sealed. It is customary 
to place the dipper into a can containing hot water after each 
dip, so as to rinse it and facilitate the sliding of the thick cream 
of the next can into the sample jar. The use of a cold dipper 
would cause the cream to stick to it and thus delay the work 
of sampling. These cream sample dippers should have a small 
hole in their bottom in order to facilitate rapid and complete 
escape of water when the dipper is removed from the hot water 
and before it is dipped into the cream. The sampling is best 
done while the cans are still on the floor and before they are 
placed on the scales, as the stirring jars the scales and shortens 
their life. 

In the case of the route system, as usually practiced, 
the sampling has to be done on the route wagon by 
the hauler. At best the sampling of the farmer's cream on 
the route, under diverse and often very unfavorable weather 
conditions is an exacting problem that requires adequate, prac- 
tical equipment for reliable work. This equipment should con- 
sist of a well-made spring scale, capacity 60 pounds, for weigh- 
ing the cream ; a weigh pail in which each farmer's cream is 
weighed separately, a properly constructed combined stirrer and 
sampler, consisting of a heavy iron rod which terminates at its 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer. Testing Cream for Butterfat. Purdue Bul- 
letin No. 145, 1910. 



132 Sampling Milk and Cream 

bottom in a securely attached sample disc; a rubber scraper for 
scraping- the remnants of cream from the sides and bottom of 
the farmer's pail or can and from the weigh pail after each 
weighing; a set of properly numbered sample bottles with tight 
stoppers or screw-top lids and arranged in a rack or box in 
numerical order; two sets of cans, preferably 10 gallon cans, for 
first-grade and second-grade cream, respectively, into which to 
empty the weigh pail — each set of these cans should be plainly 
marked with the grade of cream for which it is intended ; — and a 
cream report book or pad. The cream should be thoroughly stirred, 
then poured into the weigh pail, weighed and sampled. The scales 
should not be held up by hand, but should be suspended from a 
stationary hook, preferably attached to the rear of the wagon. 
Each sample bottle, after filling, should be sealed tightly and 
returned to its proper place in the sample box. In case the 
weigh pail does not hold all the cream of one and the same patron, 
a separate sample should be taken from each weighing and the 
corresponding weights recorded. The use of a covered wagon or 
truck protects the cream against excessive heat in summer and 
cold in winter. 

Creameries that operate routes or cream stations should see 
to it that their haulers and station agents who do the sampling 
are honest and conscientious, have the necessary knowledge to 
do their work right and are supplied with an adequate equipment 
for sampling and weighing. Men of questionable character and 
men of careless habits never make reliable agents for securing 
cream samples. 

In all cases of sampling, whether this work be done at the 
creamery, at the cream station, or on the route, the greatest 
care should be taken that the cream is mixed very thoroughly 
before sampling. This requires a stirrer with a good sized disc 
and a stout rod not less than three feet long and with a hand 
hold of adequate size. The stirring must be done thoroughly, 
simply giving the cream a few dips with the sample dipper is 
not sufficient. The stirrer must be worked to the bottom of the 
can several times and the entire contents of the can must be 
thoroughly agitated. Thick, lumpy or icy cream should be 
warmed until it pours readily and can be mixed properly. 



Sampling Milk and Cri;am 133 

Churned cream cannot be sampled. Its fat content may be 
calculated by testing the buttermilk and estimating the amount 
of butter. 

In order to guard against serious shortages of butterfat 
and to protect the creamery against paying for butterfat 
which it never received, all cream route cream and all cream 
station cream must be sampled and tested again at the cream- 
ery. A composite sample must therefore be taken at the 
creamery from the cream of the delivery of each route and of 
each station. This may be done by taking, with a cream thief 
or dipper, a small portion of cream of each can of the same 
route or the same station into a pint glass jar, bearing the 
number of the respective route or station. Or all the cans 
from the same route or station may first be emptied into the 
weigh can or vat and a sample taken from the mixed cream 
after it is thoroughly stirred. The former method has been 
found by experience to yield more accurate samples because 
of the difficulty of thorough mixing of different lots of cream 
of varying richness. 

These composite samples should be tested as promptly as 
possible and the pounds of butterfat calculated. If the amount 
of butterfat determined from the composite samples does not 
agree with the amount of butterfat of the route or station 
men's individual samples of the farmers' cream, the hauler or 
station man should be promptly notified of the delinquency., 
in an effort to avoid recurrence of similar shortages in future 
shipments. 

Sampling Frozen Cream. — The sampling of cream that ar- 
rives at the creamery in partly or wholly frozen condition as 
is the case with a good deal of the cream during severe winter 
weather, is a problem which frequently causes much difficulty. 
When freezing, the watery portions of the cream usually freeze 
first. In the case of partly frozen cream, therefore, the frozen 
portion is poorer in butterfat than the remaining liquid. When 
this cream is sampled without thawing up the icy portions, 
the sample is prone to largely contain the liquid part of the 
cream. This inavoidably causes the tests of such samples to 
show a higher per cent of butterfat than the mixed cream 



134 Sampling Milk and Cre;am 

from which it is taken. This in turn results in a low overrun 
and loss to the creamery. Cans in which the cream is com- 
pletely frozen cannot be sampled at all without first thawing 
the cream. 

In order to reduce the frozen cream to a liquid condition 
most creameries use a wooden, concrete or iron tank partly 
filled with warm water, into which they set -the cans of frozen 
cream until the cream is melted. The operators are usually 
instructed to hold the temperature of the water at 110 to 130 
degrees F. In order to hasten the work and to avoid delay 
there is always a strong temptation on the part of the operator 
to use too hot water or to pull the cans out of the thawing tank 
before all the cream is melted. Both of these practices are 
objectionable, because they are prone to yield incorrect sam- 
ples and they tend to injure the body of the resulting butter. 

If too hot water is used, at least a part of the cream is 
bound to be heated much above the melting point of the but- 
terfat. This causes the fat to "oil oflf" and run together. When 
this cream is subsequently cooled, preparatory to churning, this 
"oiled-ofiP" fat granulates and gives the butter a disagreeable, 
mealy texture. In this "oiled-off" condition the cream is also 
very difficult to sample because, in spite of most thorough stir- 
ring, the butter oil will rise to the top before the operation 
of sampling is finished and the sample is very apt to contain 
a higher per cent of fat than the mixed cream from which it is 
taken. 

If the cans are pulled out of the hot water tank before all 
the cream is properly melted, much vigorous stirring is neces- 
sary in order to reduce it to a homogeneous condition. In the 
case of sour cream this stirring of the partly melted cream is 
often sufficient to cause the butter to break, when proper sam- 
pling becomes impossible and the remelting of this churned 
cream in the forewarmer or pasteurizer again gives rise to but- 
ter with a miealy texture. 

The only reliable way of avoiding these difficulties is to 
not heat the water to high enough a temperature to cause the 
butterfat to melt and "oil-ofif" and to leave the cans in the water 
long enough to insure complete solution of the cream. This 
is best done by heating the water in the tank to 95 degrees F. 



Sampling Mii,k and CrEam 135 

only and, in order to hasten the melting of the cream, to keep 
a stream of water at 95 degrees F. flowing through the tank 
constantly. In this way the cream melts in a natural manner 
and without "oiling-ofif" and the continuous removal of the 
cooled water surrounding the cans by the circulation of the 
water greatly speeds the work. Cream so treated is in ideal 
condition for sampling and there is no danger of its producing 
a mealy-bodied butter. 

Amount of Cream for the Sample. — It is the general prac- 
tice among the creameries to make one test only of each 
sample. It is often desirable, however, to retest a sample in 
order to prove the accuracy of the first test, especially when 
there is an abnormal variation in the tests of successive deliv- 
eries or shipments of cream from the same patron. Frequently 
test bottles break in the tester and a second test is necessary 
to determine the per cent of fat of the cream which the broken 
bottle represents. For these reasons it is advisable to take a 
sample large enough for two tests. Since about 15 to 20 c. c. 
of cream are sufficient to make one test, the cream sample 
should contain about 30 to 40 c. c. of cream, or about one and 
one-half ounces. 

Larger samples than this are not only unnecessary, but may 
cause considerable waste of cream. This latter objection holds 
true only where preservatives are used as is especially the case 
with composite samples. When single samples only are taken 
and these samples are tested on the day received or shortly 
afterward, the use of preservatives is unnecessary and the un- 
used portion of the sample may be returned to the cream vat 
or forewarmer to avoid loss. 

Care of Cream Samples. — In the larger creameries, espe- 
cially those operating the cream station system or the indi- 
vidual-shipper system, the farmer's checks are made out daily 
for each individual delivery or shipment. In these creameries, 
or their stations, the samples are tested as soon as they are 
available and their care requires, therefore, no special attention. 
In a good many of the smaller creameries, however, the sam- 
ples are not tested on the day they are taken or received, and 
they are often several days old before they are tested. Few 



136 



Sampung Milk and Cream 



operators realize that, while these samples are waiting for the 
tester, they are subject to rapid deterioration and to changes 
in composition due to evaporation of moisture, which has a 
disturbing influence upon the accuracy of the test. In many 
creameries the samples are allowed to remain on the shelves 
of the receiving platform without protection from heat and 
exposure to air. Careful observations have shown that there 
is a strong tendency on the part of the cream samples, kept un- 
der these conditions, to increase in per cent of fat with age. 
This is due to the escape of moisture from the cream by evap- 
oration. The rapidity with which this evaporation takes place 
depends on the tightness or looseness of the seal of the sample 
bottles and on the temperature of the place where they are 
stored. This fact was demonstrated in a brief experiment con- 
ducted by the writer, in which the daily shipments of cream 
from six patrons were sampled for single tests and for com- 
posite tests. Each patron's sample was divided among nine 
bottles, three of which were tightly sealed, three loosely sealed 
and three were left open. One set of these bottles from each 
patron was placed in the ice box at a temperature of 50 de- 
grees F., one set was left on the receiving platform and one set 
was placed near the boiler at a temperature of 90 to 110 de- 
grees F. The results are shown in the following- table: 



Table 23. — Per Cent Fat of Cream Samples Kept in Bottles Sealed 
Tightly, Loosely and Left Open, at Different Temperatures. 





Fat Tests of Single Samples, 


Fat Tests of Composite Samples Held 




July 13 to 27 


Two Weeks 


Pa- 
trons 


July 




In 


On Recei^dng 


Near 




Aver- 
age 


Ice Box 


Platform 


Boiler 


















-ti 


01 




.p 


a> 




_^ 


a> 






13 


15 


17 


20 


22 


24 


27 




bO 


o 

o 




.a 

b£) 


o 
o 




bC 
























H 
51. 


54. 


O 
56. 


H 
57.5 


I— ( 
59. 


o 

65. 


H 
58. 


58. 


O 


1 


55. 


51. 


53, 


52. 


51. 


51. 


52. 


52.1 


70. 


2 


41. 


38. 


39. 


39. 


35. 


35. 


39. 


38. 


39.5 


40. 


42. 


44. 


45. 


50. 


51. 


59.5 


69. 


3 


28. 




27. 


29. 




25. 


30. 


27.8 


27.5 


28.5 


30. 


34. 


35. 


37. 


31. 


34. 


68. 


4 


40. 


37. 


38. 


40 


38. 


39. 


37. 


38.3 


37.5 


38.5 


41. 


38.5 


39. 


48. 


41. 


41. 


65. 


5 


35. 


33. 


35. 


33. 


33. 


32. 


33. 


33.4 


33. 


34. 


37. 


34. 


37.5 


42. 


36. 


37. 


70. 


6 


48. 


48. 


48. 


48. 


47. 


47. 


49. 


47.8 


48. 
39.5 


48. 
40.5 


51. 
43. 


40. 
43. 


48. 
44. 


59. 
50. 


49. 
44.5 


48. 
46.5 


71. 


Average - - - 


39.5 


69. 



We;ighing Milk and Cre;am 137 

The figures in table 23 demonstrate the importance of keep- 
ing cream samples that are not promptly tested, in tightly sealed 
jars and at a low temperature. They further emphasize that 
creameries keeping their cream samples in loosely sealed bottles 
on the receiving platform may pay their patrons during the 
hot summer months for thousands of pounds of butterfat they 
never received because of the increase in the per cent of fat in 
such samples with age, due to evaporation of moisture. 

Weighing Milk and Cream. — In the case of milk the cans 
belonging to one and the same patron are usually emptied 
into the weigh can and the weights are recorded on the milk 
sheet located in a convenient place on the receiving platform. 
Where milk is received exclusively or nearly so, the patrons 
are generally paid weekly, bi-weekly or monthly and it is con- 
venient to have the milk sheet provide for a sufficient number 
of days to enable the operator to enter all the daily receipts 
that constitute the period for which the pay check is made 
out. The days of the months are usually placed on the horizon- 
tal line on top and the patrons' names or numbers in the first 
vertical column at the left of the sheet. 

Where cream is received the same method may be used for 
the individual deliveries and shipments, and the route and sta- 
tion totals are entered in the columns reserved for those 
routes and stations. 

In large creameries and where the individual cream receipts 
are paid for daily, the milk and cream sheet obviously does not 
serve the purpose. In these cases the cream is usually weighed 
in the cans and before it is emptied. The tare weight indicated 
on the shoulder of the can and the gross weight are recorded 
on the tag of the can or on a cream record blank, which later 
goes to the office. 

Station and route cream may be poured into the weigh can 
thus weighing all the cream coming from one and the same 
route or station together, or each can is set on the scales and 
weighed separately. This cream has already been weighed in 
the weigh pail on the route or in the farmer's individual can 
at the cream station. The creamery weights of the total of 
each route delivery or cream station shipment should corre- 



138 



Wi;iGHiNG Milk and Cream 



spond with the total of the weights of the individual farmer's 
deliveries as recorded on the cream sheet of the respective 
route man or cream station operator. 

In order to insure correct weights the platform scales at the 
creamery and cream station and the spring scales on the route 

wagon must be in good operat- 
ing condition. They should 
be regularly examined at the 
beginning of each day. They 
should be set level, properly 
balanced, swing freely and in- 
dicate the weight correctly. 
Scales that "stick" or that are 
otherwise not in satisfactory 
operating condition should not 
be used. They should be re- 
paired or replaced with new 
scales at once. Platform scales 
should be protected against un- 
due jars and they should be 
thoroughly cleaned and freed 
from all remnants of milk and 
cream at the conclusion of each 
day's work. On the care of the 
scales will largely depend their 
accuracy and their duration of 
usefulness. 




Fig*. 17. Platform scales for mlUc 
and cream 

Courtesy Fairbanks, Morse & Co. 



"Dumping" Milk and Cream. — As previously stated the 
milk cans are most conveniently emptied into the weigh can and 
after weighing the milk passes into the receiving vat and is 
heated preparatory to separation in accordance with directions 
given in Chapter V on the Separation of Milk. All mjilk 
should be strained through a wire mesh strainer, 80 to 100 meshes 
to the inch. This is best done by installing the strainer over the 
top of the weigh can. The strainer should be rinsed out fre- 
quently during the day's work and should receive a special 
scrubbing with a brush and hot water, and should be steamed, 



"Dumping" Milk and Cream 139 

at the end of the day. The use of a drip rack for reclaiming 
remnants of milk in the cans will assist in avoiding unneces- 
sary losses on the platform. 

The cream, after it is weighed, is usually emptied into the 
forewarmer, which consists of a low vat equipped with a 
revolving coil for warming the cream. It is desirable 
to forewarm all cream so as to reduce it to a homogeneous 
condition and make pasteurization more even and more effect- 
ive. In the forewarmer the cream is heated to about 90 de- 
grees F. If higher temperatures are used care should be taken 
that the cream is constantly agitated by keeping the coil revolv- 
ing, in order to guard against "oiling-ofif" of the butterfat and 
consequently a mealy-bodied butter. 

The forewarmer should be equipped with a coarse but 
substantial strainer, about four meshes to the inch, through 
which all the cream is strained into the forewarmer. 

Inasmuch as much of the cream arrives at the creamery in 
very thick condition, special attention must be given the rinsing 
of the cans in order to prevent heavy loss of butter fat. After 
the can is emptied it is best inverted over a steam jet with an 
opening about f inches in diameter where steam is blown into 
the can until all the cream has run out. A series of two to 
three such steam jets will allow one can to be steamed while the 
previous one is taken oflf and the succeeding one is put on, thus 
avoiding delay, and increasing the speed of the work of "dump- 
ing". If this steam jet arrangement is installed on top of the 
forewarmer, the remnants of cream run automatically into the 
forewarmer and no special receptacle is needed to catch and re- 
claim this cream. Where a mechanical can washer is used it 
may be convenient to make this cream-reclaiming arrangement 
a part of the can washer. 

Iifstead of blowing the remnants of cream out of the cans 
with steam, some factories rinse the cans with hot water, pour- 
ing about one half can full of hot water from one can to the 
next one and finally dumping this milky rinse water into the 
forewarmer. This method appears somewhat more crude, 
more sloppy and has the additional disadvantage of diluting the 



140 



Can Washing 




cream with considerable water, which is undesirable, often 
contributing to the development of costly butter defects. 

In the case of very thick and cold cream, it may be neces- 
sary to dip the cans into a hot water bath and then invert them 
over the forewarmer again to facilitate the removal of the rem- 
nants of cream. This water bath is best provided in the form 
of a rectangular tank, 24 inches long, 18 inches wide and 
18 inches deep. This dipping of the cans 
in water is somewhat objectionable because 
the water adhering to the outside of the 
cans runs into the cream in the fore- 
warmer upon subsequent "dumping" and. 
since the cans are often unclean on the out- 
side, this water also is far from being free 
from impurities and tends to pollute the 
cream. Where the remnants of cream are 
blown out of the cans with steam, the dipping 
of the cans in hot water is largely unneces- 
sary and may, under most conditions, be 
omitted. 

Washing of Milk and Cream Cans. — One 

of the essential factors in the creamery's suc- 
cessful efiforts to improve and uphold the 
quality of its supply of milk and cream con- 
stitutes the returning to the farmer of cans 
that are clean, dry and smell sweet. It is 
inconsistent to urge the producer to observe 
scrupulous precautions of cleanliness and 
sanitation in the production and handling of 
his milk and cream, and then furnish him with cans that are 
not clean and that contain foul odors. Even milk or cream that 
is sweet and free from objectionable flavors and odors, when 
poured, stored and shipped in unclean cans, will be of inferior 
quality by the time it reaches the creamery or cream station. 
And the psychological effect on the producer who, upon open- 
ing the can, detects bad odors and lack of cleanliness, is dis- 
advantageous to the cause of good milk or cream. A clean 
and sweet-smelling can furnishes an incentive to the production 
of creamj of good quality. An unclean can with objectionable 



Tig. 18. Can steamer 
for reclaiming' rem- 
nants of cream 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry 
Co. 



Can Washing 141 

odors discourages the farmer from making the necessary effort 
to produce good cream because he realizes that if it is exposed 
to the contaminating influences of such a can, the cream will soon 
deteriorate anyway, regardless of the care he has exercised in 
its production. The proper cleaning of the cans at the factory 
should, therefore, receive most careful attention. 

Can Washing Equipment. — Great efforts have been made 
within recent years by creameries and manufacturers of cream- 
ery machinery to devise and construct machines that could be 
depended upon to cleanse, sterilize and dry the cans. While 
there is still room for much progress on this point, much im- 
provement in the available can washing equipment has resulted 
from these efforts. 

Washing cans by hand is a laborious and time-consuming 
work, distasteful to the great majority of creamery employees. 
On account of its disagreeable features it is difficult to secure 
men who are dependable to do this work properly and who do 
not yield to the temptation of slighting it when rushed and in 
the absence of close supervision. 

The earlier attempts at machine washing consisted of the 
use of mechanical brushes revolving in a can wash trough. The 
cans were slipped over these brushes, the brushes by the opera- 
tion of a lever, were then expanded to touch the inside and out- 
side of the cans, cleaning it while revolving. Later steam and 
hot air jets were attached to the end of these washers for the 
purpose of sterilizing and drying the washed cans. 

The latest designs of can-washing machines consist of so- 
called hydraulic can washers, in which the cans automatically 
pass in an inclosed chamber over a series of jets which rinse, 
wash, steam and dry the cans. These washing machines are 
made in varying sizes taking care of 100 to 300 cans per hour. 
Some are of circular type while others are straight-away. The 
circular washers have the advantage of economizing space and 
of making it possible for the same person who places the un- 
washed cans into the machine to also remove the washed cans 
from the machine. In plants where it is desirable to discharge 
the clean cans as far away as possible from the intake of the 
unwashed cans, in order to clear the floor, the straight-away 
machines are more serviceable. 



142 



Can Washing 



These hydraulic can wash- 
ers promise to play an impor- 
tant and useful part in the 
efficiency of can washing and 
the improvement of the qual- 
ity of the cream in the future. 
Already a great number of 
these machines are in opera- 
tion in milk plants and cream- 
eries throughout the country. 
While their high initial cost, 
their large size, their noise 
and heat radiation are obsta- 
cles which limit their use to 
the larger factories and make them as yet unsuitable for small 
creameries, these disadvantages may gradually be overcome and 
are even now offset in part at least by their greater speed and 
relative efficiency, their greater economy in the use of alkali 




Tig. 19. Can steamer and drier 

Courtesy Jensen-Cry Mach. Co. 




Tig. 19A. ProgresB clrcnlar can washer 

Courtesy Davis-Watkin.s Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 

solution, and the fact that the cans require less frequent paint- 
ing than when washed by hand. While their work of cleans- 
ing, sterilizing and drying the cans may fall short of the work 
of the most expert washing by hand, the machines yield uni- 



Can Washing 



143 



formly good results, they can be adjusted to any speed and to 
any length of exposure of the cans to washing, steaming and 
drying and their work is far superior to that of the average 
washing by hand. 

Essentials of Efficient Can Washing. — iln the proper cleans- 
ing of cans there are four essential operations, namely, the 
washing, rinsing, steaming and drying. 




Figf. 20. llechanical can washer 

Courtesy Lathrop- Paulson Co. 

The washing of the cans should remove all remnants of 
milk or cream. In the case of hand washing this is best done 
by immersing the can in a wash tank of suitable size and con- 
taining a solution of washing powder or other alkali in hot 
water. The cans are washed both inside and out with a stiff 
bristle brush. In the hydraulic machines the hot alkali water 
is forced into the cans under pressure and the force of the 
water is intended to take the place of the brush. In some of 
these machines clear hot water is used for this purpose without 
any addition of alkali. Experience has shown that milk cans 
and cream cans which are not coated with dried cream can be 
quite successfully cleansed in this way. Old cream cans, how- 
ever, in which the cream has dried onto the inside of the can 
need a special hand scrubbing to insure thorough cleansing. 



144 



Can Washing 



After the cans are freed from the remnants of milk or 
cream they should be thoroughly rinsed. This is usually done 
by inverting them over a water jet attached to one end of the 
wash tank. Or in the case of hydraulic can washers the cans 
pass from the washing jets to the rinsing jets. In hand 
washing the rinsing process is too often neglected and 
remnants of the unclean wash water remain in the cans serving 
as an active starter to pollute the next batch of cream. The 
cans should be thoroughly rinsed after they are washed. The 
rinsing is preferably done with hot water, so as to make more 
effective the subsequent steaming and drying. 




Tig, 21. Mechanical can washer 

Courtesy Rice & Adams Corp. 

The properly rinsed cans are then ready for the steam- 
ing process. This is accomplished by inverting them over a 
steam jet and blowing steam into them until they are "piping" 
hot. In the case of hand wash tanks the steam jet is usually 
installed in close proximity to the water jet so that the cans 
can be rinsed and steamed in one operation. In the hydraulic 
can washers the cans pass on automatically from the rinsing 
jets to the steaming jets. The purpose of steaming is to destroy 
the germs still contained in the cans and to render the cans as 
nearly sterile as possible. The length of time required for thor- 
ough steaming depends much on the steam pressure, the size of 
the steam pipe and the distance between the steam jet and the 
boiler. Under ordinary creamery conditions the steaming should 
last at least 30 seconds. A shorter time is insufficient to insure 
effective germ-killing action. Steaming for 5 to 10 seconds, as is 



Can Washing 145 

all too often the case, does not accomplish the desired purpose. 
Its sterilizing action is incomplete. 

The last but not least important step in the cleansing of 
the cans is the drying. If the cans are to arrive at the farm 
in sweet condition and free from objectionable odors, they must 
be dry when they are sealed with the lid. Water left in the 
cans is certain to start bacterial action. The drying is best done 
by inverting the steam cans over a hot air blast. This blast is 
generated by means of a centrifugal fan blowing atmospheric 
air through a chamber filled with steam pipes. In the absence of 
the hydraulic can washer the hot air outlet is located near the 
steam jet at the end of the wash tank. In the hydraulic can 
washers the cans automatically pass from the steam jets to 
the "hot air jets. The drying of the cans is indispensable, not 
only to improve the sanitary condition of the cans but also to 
prevent rapid rusting and to preserve the life of the cans. 

Cleansing the Can Covers. — The can covers should receive 
the same treatment of washing, rinsing, steaming and drying 
as the cans themselves. Too often no provision is made to 
properly treat the covers. They are just washed and possibly 
rinsed and slightly steamed. When these wet covers, dripping 
with rinse water, are placed on the clean, dry cans, some water is 
bound to enter the cans and the good effects of the can drying 
are largely forfeited. Most of the hydraulic can washers pro- 
vide for the washing, rinsing, steaming and drying of the covers, 
too. 

Can Washing at the Cream Station. — It is obvious that the 
limited business and facilities of the cream station preclude the 
use of mechanical can washing machines and that the cans, if 
they are washed at all must be washed by hand. But even this 
process requires the availability of hot water and preferably of 
steam. The larger and properly-managed cream stations are 
equipped with a small boiler, a wash tank with steam jet and a 
rack for drying the cans. Where a steam boiler is not available, 
the station should use some other simple and inexpensive means 
for sterilizing the cans and other equipment that comes in 
direct contact with the cream. For this purpose the steam steril- 



146 Can Washing 

izer devised by Ayres and Taylor^ of the United States Dairy 
Division is recommended. 

Size, Quality and Construction of Cans, Rusty and Dam- 
aged Cans. — For shipping or hauling milk the 10 gallon can 
is the most popular can. Most farmers who ship milk have 
enough of it most of the time to fill a 10 gallon can. This refers 
largely to creamery patrons. In the case of milk that is in- 
tended for city milk consumption, the 8 gallon can pre- 
dominates in many localities. For shipping cream a smaller 
can is preferable and the 5 gallon can is recommended. The 
smaller can is filled in a shorter time and encourages more 
frequent shipments, thus helping the creamery to secure a fresher 
cream. The shipping rate on the 5 gallon can also is less than 
that on the 10 gallon can, so that it is cheaper to ship a 5 gal- 
lon can full than a ten gallon can only part full. Again, the pur- 
chasing price of the small can is less than that of the large can. 

Generally speaking, a well constructed can made of heavy 
tin plate lasts longer and gives better service than a can of 
light construction. However, in the case of sour cream, the 
acid corrodes and rusts even the best cans in time and it is 
a debatable question whether it is preferable to buy a cheap 
can that can be replaced with little expense as soon as it shows 
signs of corrosion, or to buy a more expensive can that will 
last somewhat longer. Especially when the can is paid for 
by the producer he often objects to the paying of the price 
of a high grade can. 

All cans, if not made of pressed tin, should have their seams 
well flushed with solder so as to avoid the lodging of remnants 
of decaying cream in the seams at the bottom, side or shoulder. 

All cans should receive a special inspection at regular inter- 
vals and cans which contain more than about 1 square inch of 
rust spots should be scoured with some good friction material, 
such as cement or emery powder. Cans that do not respond to 
this treatment and that show excessive rustiness should be 
discarded. Also, cans with loose shoulders, if they cannot be 
mended satisfactorily, should be removed from service. 

The fact that the can is rusty indicates that the tin coat- 



^ Ayres and Taylor, A Simple Steam Sterilizer for Farm Dairy Utensils, 
U. S. Dept. Agr. B. A. I. Farmers' Bulletin No. 748, 1916. 



Can Washing 147 

ing has become defective in spots and that iron is exposed. The 
exposed iron is chemically acted upon by the acid and some 
of the other constituents of the cream, causing the formation 
of metallic salts, which hasten the decomposition of some of the 
constituents of the cream,, either through chemical action, or 
by accelerating the action of bacteria, or enzymes, or both, and 
leading to diverse flavor defects in butter, such as metallic 
flavor, tallowy flavor, fishy flavor, etc. 

Rusty cans are objectionable also for sanitary reasons. Rust 
spots present a rough surface, on which remnants of milk and 
cream lodge readily and from which they are difficult to re- 
move, and the rust spots harbor and hold moisture to such an 
extent, that it is very difiicult to thoroughly dry the cans by the 
use of equipment and methods entirely adequate, for the drying 
of cans free from rust. The tendency of rusty cans to not be 
perfectly clean and completely dry, causes these cans almost 
invariably to become foul-smelling, and to pollute the cream 
and injure the butter made from it. 

Replacing Old Cans by New Ones. — ^An effective means to 
maintain a satisfactory standard of quality and condition of the 
cans in use is to adopt a system whereby, at definite intervals,, 
each month or so, a certain per cent, say one per cent, of the 
cans, those that are in the poorest condition, is discarded. In 
this manner there is a constant renewal of cans and at a com- 
paratively small cost at any one time. 

Retinning Rusty Cans.^ — Some creameries maintain a tin- 
shop of their own, where defective cans may be repaired and 
rusty cans retinned. When this can be done at a moderate ex- 
pense, it is .certainly a commendable practice. In many in- 
stances, however, experience has shown that the cost of re- 
tinning was out of proportion to the value of the can, and was 
too great to justify it. 

There are now in operation several outside concerns, who 
are specializing in repair work of this type and who dismantle 
old cans, retin the pieces and reassemble them in a manner 
that the repaired can is practically as good as new, and at a 
cost somewhat lower than the price of a new can. 



148 Neutralization of Sour Cream 

The relation between the condition of the cream can and 
the quality of the butter is so intimate, and the efifect of the 
use of cans that are in poor condition is so injurious to the 
quality of the butter, that the matter of proper care and re- 
pair of cream cans is a problem that demands- most serious at- 
tention. 

Chapter VII. 

THE NEUTRALIZATION OF SOUR CREAM. 

Definition. — By neutralization of cream for butter making, 
is understood the reduction of the acid in sour cream. Chemical- 
ly, neutralization would mean the process of making- the cream 
neutral, removing all the acid. This would be obviously undesir- 
able in the case of cream intended for buttermaking, its injury to 
the quality of the resulting butter would be far greater than its 
expected benefits. It would make butter of very inferior flavor 
and poor keeping quality. In fact it would forfeit the benefits 
for which cream is neutralized. 

In the sense used in the creamery, neutralization refers to 
the removal of excess acid, reducing the acidity to say .2 to .3 
per cent. The term neutralization, therefore, is a misnomer, 
it is misleading, inasmuch as it misrepresents the intent and 
practice of the process. A more correct name for this process 
would be the "Standardization of Cream for Acid." However, 
neutralization has become an established trade name, it has 
become an inherent part in the creameryman's vocabulary, so 
that, in order to avoid confusion and for the sake of clearness, 
it seems advisable to retain the trade name, "neutralization" 
in this discussion. 

Object of Neutralization. — With the help of proper neutrali- 
zation, the creamery hopes to and does accomplish the following 
three principle objects: 

1. To avoid excessive loss of fat that, results from churn- 
ing cream that is pasteurized while excessively sour. 

2. To guard against the production of undesirable flavors 
in cream which are prone to result when cream that is high in 
acid is pasteurized at -a high temperature. 

3. To improve the keeping quality of butter made from high 



Ne;utrauzation o^ Sour Cre;am 149 

acid cream. Butter made from cream which is very sour, does 
not keep well. 

These are the only objects that can be accomplished with 
neutralization. They all hinge on the reduction of the acid of 
sour cream before pasteurization. 

Improvement of the flavor of butter made from tainted 
cream, or the removal of rancidity by neutralization, is not pos- 
sible, notwithstanding many claims to the contrary. These facts 
have been conclusively established, as may be noted in succeed- 
ing paragraphs of this chapter. 

Importance of Correct Neutralization. — That neutralization 
of cream has been a wonderful help to the manufacturer of but- 
ter who receives sour cream, is an undisputed fact. Experience 
has demonstrated beyond all question, that proper neutralization 
of sour cream improves the keeping quality of butter. 

But great as the benefits are that can be derived from 
proper neutralization, so are also disastrous the results of im- 
proper neutralization. Over-neutralization is absolutely ruin- 
ous to butter. It is, therefore, of the greatest importance that 
we practice correct neutralization. That is, a process must be 
used that will, give the full benefits of proper neutralization and 
that will at the samie time protect the butter against the dis- 
astrous effect of over-neutralization. 

How to Neutralize. — The important requisites of accurate 
and reliable neutralization may be conveniently grouped as 
follows : 

1. Adoption of a definite standard of acidity. 

2. Correct and accurate test for acidity. 

3. Choice and use of the right kind of neutralizer. 

4. Use of the right strength and amount of neutralizer. 

5. Adding the neutralizer to the cream in the right 
manner. 

6. Checking of results by retesting. 

Adoption of a Definite Standard of Acidity. — The operator 
must first of all decide to what point the acidity shall be re- 
duced. If neutralization really means "standardization" of the 
acid in the cream, it is obvious that there must be a standard 



150 Neutrauzation of Sour Cream 

of acidity. It is essential then that such a standard be estab- 
lished. Only then is there something definite, something worth 
while, to work to; and, having established such a standard., 
it must be abided by. 

There are differences of opinion as to the most desirable 
point, or per cent acid, to neutralize to. However, extensive 
scientific experiments conducted by the writer and others, as 
well 'as practical experience in the manufacture of butter, have 
conclusively demonstrated that, in order to realize the full ben- 
efits of neutralization, the acid content of the cream must be 
reduced to somewhere near .3 per cent acid, and that we are 
approaching too near the neutral point and the dangers that 
accompany it, when the acidity is dropped much below .2 per cent. 

Making reasonable allowance for fluctuations and inaccu- 
racies in the results of neutralization, caused by the complexity 
of the reactions of the neutralizer in cream of varying condi- 
tions, and by the naturally crude technique of the process as 
manipulated by the usually busy and often untrained operator, 
a standard of acidity should be adopted that will permit of 
considerable latitude up and down, without, on the one hand 
forfeiting the benefits of neutralization, and on the other hand 
jeopardizing the quality of the product. 

Neutralization to .25 per cent acid, as' indicated by the 
usual acid test with decinormal sodium hydroxide and phe- 
nolphthalein as indicator, has been found to best take care of 
these fluctuating conditions and errors of operation. A stand- 
ard of .25 per cent acid, therefore, has been adopted for the 
purpose of these discussions and is recommended to be adhered 
to. It is not claimed that this arbitrary standard is neces- 
sarily the best under all conditions, but it may well be accepted 
as the perfect standard for average creamery conditions. 

Testing Correctly for Acidity. — It is obvious that the accu- 
racy of neutralization centers fundamentally on the accuracy 
of the acid test. Reduction of the acidity to a definite standard 
point need not be expected, unless the operator is able to de- 
termine the correct per cent acid contained in the cream before 
neuti^lization. 

Numerous simple and accurate acid tests are available for 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 151 

the purpose. They all refer to the use of a dilute solution 

(usually a decinormal solution) of sodium hydroxide. Detailed 

directions for these tests are recorded in the chapter on "Tests 

and Analyses," etc., Chapter XXII. If a decinormal solution of 

sodium hydroxide, and an 18 c.c. pipette are used for measuring 

the cream, each two-tenths cubic centimeter of alkali solution, as 

shown on the graduation of the burette, represents .01 per cent 

acid. Hence the number of c.c. alkali solution divided by 20 

gives the correct per cent acid in the cream. Thus, if say 

7.4 c.c. alkali solution is required to turn the cream pink the 

74 
per cent acid is ' = .37%. 

Choice of Neutraltzer. — There is a variety of neutralizers 
that have been and are being used for the purpose of reducing 
the acidity in cream intended for buttermaking. 

Neutralizers used for the purpose of reducing acidity, must 
have alkaline properties, they must be alkalies, or alkaline 
earths, or their carbonates. An alkali is a substance that neu- 
tralizes acids, forming salts, and that saponifies fats. The 
most common neutralizers that have found application in the 
creamery are the carbonates of sodium (soda ash), and of calci- 
um (chalk), the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), the hydrate 
of soda (soda lye), and of calcium (lime water and milk of 
lime), and the oxide of calcium and of magnesium (quick lime 
and magnesia lime). 

The chief advantages of carbonate and bicarbonate of soda 
are that they are readily soluble and, therefore, can be easily 
made up into solutions of desired strength. This is a distinct 
advantage. Calcium carbonate, on the other hand, is very in- 
soluble and slow of action, which renders its use unsuitable 
for this purpose. All carbonates above mentioned liberate car- 
bondioxide gas when they are added to the sour cream. This 
fact is claimed by some to be greatly in favor of their use, 
as neutralizers. The claim is that the carbondioxide gas per- 
culating upward in and escaping from the cream, mechanically 
carries with it volatile gases having undesirable odors and 
thereby removes from the cream, objectionable odors and 
flavors. 



152 Neutralization of Sour Cream 

The extent and vqlue of this expulsion of gases and the con- 
sequent improvement of the flavor of the butter, made from 
cream neutraHzed with carbonates, are however much over- 
estimated. The expulsion of carbondioxide and other gases 
that msay be present in the cream will occur to a large extent 
in all cream, whether neutralized or not, during the process 
of pasteurization. In fact, the flavor-improving effect of car- 
bonate neutralizers is largely imaginary. If these claims were 
well-founded, it should be possible to make No. 1 butter from 
Grade 2 cream. This cannot be done. Distinct off-flavors in the 
cream do not disappear by the use of these neutralizers. 

On the other hand, the use of carbonate and bicarbonate 
neutralizers has the serious disadvantage of robbing the 
operator of the ability to check the accuracy of his work, be- 
cause the carbondioxide formed in the cream when these neu- 
tralizers are used, reacts acid, causing the test to show a higher 
acidity than the lactic acid content of the cream represents. These 
tests could be made to show the correct acidity by boiling the 
sample of cream to be tested, or by blowing air through it, 
both of which practices would expel the carbondioxide, but 
these practices are objectionable in practical creamery opera- 
tion, because of the delay their application would inevitably 
cause in the work and also because of the danger of incom- 
plete execution. Methyl orange indicator, which is not affected 
by the carbondioxide, might be used instead of phenolphthalein, 
but it is not suitable, because it fails to show a definite, sharp 
end reaction in weak organic acid such as lactic acid. 

Because of their generation of carbonic acid gas in sour 
cream, the use of carbonates and bicarbonates often presents 
mechanical difficulties, causing the cream to foam up and over 
the vat, unless such neutralizers are used with care. This 
is especially true in the case of high-acid cream and when the 
temperature of the cream is relatively high at the time the 
carbonate is added. 

Sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate are more 
troublesome in this respect than calcium carbonate, the for- 
mer being readily soluble and acting quickly, while the cal- 
cium carbonate is practically insoluble in water and therefore 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 153 

acts more slowly on the acid, distributing the evolution of car- 
bondioxide gas over a longer period of time and lessening the 
tendency of the cream to violently foam. 

Of the hydrates, lime appears to be the only really suitable 
alkali to use. It is mild in its action, does not injure the flavor 
of the butter when used intelligently, does not appreciably at- 
tack the metal of the vats and other equipment, tends tO' form 
with that portion of the casein with which it reacts, a precipi- 
tate of relatively great stability and resistance against bacterial 
action, and it combines with the curd first, rendering that por- 
tion of the curd which enters into the composition of the butter 
less acid — thereby minimizing the acidity of the butter and 
its deteriorating power. 

Sodium hydrate, the cheapest form of which, for neutral- 
izing purposes, is soda lye, has strong caustic properties. It 
and the sodium lactate which it forms in the sour cream, readily 
attack and dissolve metals such as copper and even tin, causing 
the vat linings and coils and the pasteurizers to turn black and 
the cream and butter to contain undue quantities of metallic 
salts which are detrimental to its flavor and keeping quality. 
Sodium, unlike lime, reacts with the lactic acid of the 
cream first, and, inasmuch as in the neutralization of cream, 
acid reduction is not carried to the neutral point, there 
is but slight action on the casein, leaving the curd in butter 
made from sodium-neutralized cream, in more acid condition 
than is the case with butter from lime-neutralized cream. Again, 
while in lime-neutralized cream the undissolved casein appears 
in relatively large aggregates of marked firmness and apparent 
insolubility, in sodium-neutralized cream the insoluble portion 
of the- casein is soft, it suggests greater solubility and less re- 
sistence to bacterial action. 

The flavor of the butter made from cream neutralized with 
soda lye, sodium carbonate, or sodium bicarbonate is prone to 
have a soapy character. This is especially true of cream of 
high original acidity and cream in which the acid is reduced 
very close to the neutral point. With lime hydrate, properly 
prepared and intelligently used and using a sufficient quantity 
only to reduce the acidity to .25 per cent or thereabout, no ob- 
jectionable flavor effects occur. 



154 Neutralization op Sour Cream 

The popular claim that the use of lime conveys to butter 
a limy flavor does not apply to the proper neutralization with 
lime hydrate, it is the result of the abuse of lime resulting from 
inaccurate and faulty methods. Butter made from cream prop- 
erly neutralized with milk of lime shows no such flavor defect. 
On the contrary, its flavor is pleasant and its keeping quality, 
other conditions being the same, is superior. Butter may, how- 
ever, show a limy flavor when the lime neutralizer is not used 
properly; if the lime mix is too concentrated and is not ade- 
quately diluted before it is added to the cream, or if too much 
neutralizer is added, as is very often the case with high acid 
cream when no mathematically correct system of neutralization 
is used, and when the senses of taste and smell constitute the 
only means to determine whether the acidity in the cream has 
been sufficiently reduced. 

Another very common cause of limy flavor in butter made 
from high acid cream due to over-neutralization lies in the fact 
that where the liming is done by guess only, the cream is 
usually tested immediately after neutralization and if the acidity 
at that time is higher than desired, more neutralizer is added. 
Since the action of the lime is slow and is not completed until 
after the neutralized cream has been pasteurized, it is obvious 
that the acid test made immediately after neutralization does 
not indicate the true acidity of the cream. If more lime is 
added on the basis of this acid test, there is danger of over- 
neutralization, resulting in limy-flavored butter and other flavor 
defects. 

In an effort to avoid limy flavor some creameries use both, 
lime hydrate and sodium carbonate. They reduce the acidity 
of the cream with lime to say about .35 to .4 per cent acid and 
then complete the neutralization to the desired point with so- 
dium carbonate. By this method they claim to secure the 
beneficial action of the escaping carbondioxide, thus combin- 
ing the advantages of lime hydrate and sodium carbonate with- 
out suffering from the disadvantages of either. The lesser am- 
ount of lime used minimizes the danger of a limy flavor and 
the small amount of sodium carbonate required and added to 



Neutralization of Sour CrEam 155 

the low-acid cream, prevents excessive foaming and does away 
with the tendency to produce a soapy flavor. 

There is no reason why the double neutralization, when prop- 
erly done, should not produce very satisfactory results. How- 
ever, it too largely forfeits the ability of the buttermaker to 
check his work by determining the per cent acid in the neu- 
tralized cream, since the presence of sodium carbonate makes 
difficult the accurate determination of the end reaction in the 
acid tests. Moreover, when milk of lime is used correctly and 
intelligently, double neutralization is unnecessary. 

Finally, lime is a natural constituent of milk and butter, 
it is not only harmless, but represents one of the essential 
minerals required by the human body for maintenance and 
especially for growth. If any portion of the neutralizer, no matter 
how small, does enter into the composition of the butter, it is 
essential that it add to, rather than detract from the healthfulness 
and dietetic value of the butter. From, the standpoint of the 
welfare of the consumer, therefore, lime is not only the least 
harmful but, in fact, the most beneficial and hence the most 
suitable alkali available for reduction of the acidity in cream. 

For the numerous and obvious reasons above discussed, 
lime hydrate constitutes overwhelmingly the most suitable form 
of neutralizer available for the reduction of acid in sour cream. 
All further discussion of, and directions for neutralization in 
this chapter will, therefore, be confined to the use of lime hydrate. 

Strength and Amount of Neutralizers. — Having established 
a standard acidity to which to neutralize, and knowing the 
acidity of the cream before neutralization, it is a simple matter 
to calculate how much lime to use to secure the desired results, 
but here again accuracy is necessary ; for guess work is bound 
to prove unsatisfactory, misleading and disappointing in the 
long run. 

The most common form of lime used for neutralization oi 
cream is calcium hydrate, or lime hydrate. Lime hydrate may 
be used in two forms, namely as lime water and as milk 
of lime. 

Lime water consists of the clear water which separates 



156 Neutrauzation of Sour Cream 

on the surface after the slaked, but undissolved lime has drop- 
ped to the bottom. The lime water contains lime hydrate in 
solution only. From the standpoint of ease of handling, rap- 
idity of action and accuracy of neutralization, this clear lime 
water would be most suitable. But lime is only very slightly 
soluble in water. It is soluble to the extent of about .137 per 
cent in cold water and to the extent of .075 per cent in boiling 
hot water. The clear lime water is so weak and its neutral- 
izing power so slight that, in order to reduce the acidity in 
cream from say .85 per cent to .25 per cent, it would require 
lime water equal in volume to approximately twice the volum.e 
of the cream to be neutralized. Clear lime water, therefore, is 
obviously not a practical neutralizer to use. 

A stronger lime hydrate must be used and this consists of 
milk of lime. Milk of lime is a watery emulsion of lime hydrate 
which contains, in addition to lime in solution, particles of un- 
dissolved lime. The milk of lime is somewhat more difficult 
to handle and the control of its strength is less easy, because 
the undissolved particles of lime settle out very readily and 
quickly. It is difficult to maintain a homogeneous emulsion of 
it and its neutralizing action is somewhat slow. By proper 
preparation and intelligent handling, however, the above ob- 
jections are largely overcome. 

In order to consistently reduce the acidity in cream to 
the standard of .25 per cent acid, and to determine the correct 
amount of lime emulsion to use, it is necessary to prepare and 
use a neutralizing emulsion of definite, known strength, and 
that can be manipulated accurately and conveniently and that 
lends itself to ready and even distribution and uniform action 
in the cream. 

The mix can be made up direct from, the quick lim^e or 
calcium oxide, in which case time must be taken to properly 
slake it. Or it can be made up from hydrated lime which re- 
quires no additional slaking. A good quality of hydrated lime 
gives fully as satisfactory action as unslaked lime, and it re- 
quires much less work and trouble to prepare the mix. Slak- 
ing lime is a mason's job which is rarely looked upon kindly 
or done properly by the creamery operator. Improperly and 



Ne;utrauzation of Sour Cri;am 157 

incompletely slaked lime makes an unsatisfactory neutralizer, 
generally containing much lime carbonate which is coarse, does 
not strain readily, is insoluble and slow of action in the cream. 

A convenient strength and consistency of milk of lime is 
secured by two pounds of dry hydrated lime in one gallon of 
lime mix. In other words, add enough water to two pounds 
of dry hydrated lime to make up one gallon milk of lime. This 
formula has the further advantage that it is easily remembered 
by the operator. Since the preparation of the milk of lime is 
a somewhat unpleasant operation, it is advisable to make it 
up in sufficiently large quantities to avoid having to repeat 
the operation at too frequent intervals. 

Having adopted this ratio of lime to mix, it is necessary 
to ascertain how much of this mix it takes to neutralize .01 per 
cent or .01 pound of lactic acid in 100 pounds of cream. It 
is necessary here, to remember that the molecular weight of pure 
lime hydrate is 74, while that of lactic acid is 90, and also that, 
lime hydrate, being bivalent, its strength is double that of 

lactic acid. In other words, it takes — — or Z7 pounds of dry 

lime hydrate to neutralize 90 pounds of lactic acid. Hence, 
the amount of lime hydrate required to neutralize .01 pounds 
or .01 per cent lactic in 100 pounds of cream is : 

90: 37 = .01 :X; X = . 00411 pounds lime hydrate. 

But the lime hydrate is not added to the cream in dry form, 
but in the form of milk of lime consisting of two pounds of dry 
hydrated lime in one gallon of mix. Hence it is necessary 
to know how many pints of this mix are required to neutralize 
.01 pounds or .01 per cent of lactic acid in 100 pounds of 
cream. Since the lime mix contains 2 pounds of lime hydrate 
in one gallon, or in 8 pints of mix, this factor is determined as 
follows : 

2:8= .00411 : X ; X = .01644 pints lime mix. 

This then means that for every .01 per cent acid in 100 
pounds of cream that is to be reduced, we must add to the 
cream .01644 pints of lime mix. 



158 



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160 Neutrauzation of Sour Cream 

The following concrete example of neutralization may serve 
to illustrate this more clearly : The vat contains 2000 pounds of 
cream, the cream tests .6 per cent acid, which is to be re- 
duced to .25 per cent acid. How many pints of lime mix must 
be added? 

Answer: 

Original acid in cream 6 % 

Acid desired 25% 

Acid to be neutralized 35% 

Hence the amount of lime mix 

required is .35 X 2000 X .01644 =11.5 pints. 

On the basis of this formula, then, the amount of lime mix 
required to reduce any per cent of acid in any amount of cream 
to the desired per cent acid, can readily be calculated, and 
tables can be assembled whereby the exact amount of lime mix 
needed can be read off at a glance. For the convenience of the 
operator tables on pp. 158 and 159 are shown. 

If the creamery prefers to make up its milk of lime direct 
from lime oxide or quick lime, which is unslaked lime, the 
same formula and the same tables may serve without interfer- 
ing with their accuracy, provided that the formula used for 
making up the milk of lime is modified. The unslaked lime 
or lime oxide is stronger than the hydrated lime, hence the milk 
of lime used must contain somewhat less lime. The molecular 
^yeight of lime oxide is 56, while that of lime hydrate is 74. 
Hence instead of using enough lime to make each gallon of 
milk of lime contain two pounds of lime, the amount of lime oxide 
per gallon of milk of lime must be 74 : 56 = 2 : X ; X = 1.5135 
pounds lime oxide. 

Accuracy of Results of Neutralization Depends on Kind of 
Lime Used. — The foregoing calculations were made on the 
assumption that the hydrated lime used contains 100 per cent 
calcium hydrate or nearly so, and examinations of the hydrated 
calcium limes of commerce have shown, that many of these limes 
approach this standard of purity quite closely, so that the above 
cajculations should vield the acid reduction herein indicated. 



Nkutralization of Sour Crkam 



161 



Furthermore, tests of milk of lime so made, with aqueous 
solutions of both lactic acid and hydrochloric acid, demon- 
strated that these limes actually have the power to reduce the 
acid in the aqueous solutions to the theoretically calculated 
per cent. 

However, neutralization of sour cream and neutralization 
of aqueous solutions of acid are two vastly different problems, 
and it has been conclusively demonstrated, by Hunziker and 
Ho'Sman^, both by laboratory experiments and by factory tests 
that, while in aqueous acid solutions the neutralizing action of 
the lime is complete, in cream, not all of the lime added goes 
to neutralize the lactic acid present. These facts are shown in 
Table 25. 

Table 25. — Fourteen Factory Tests in Which the Cream in the 

Vats Was Tested for Acidity Before Neutralization, and 

Three Hours After Neutralization, Showing Per Cent 

Neutralizer not Reacting. 

(Enough lime hydrate was added to theoretically reduce the acid 
in the cream to .25%.) 





Acidity in Cream 








After Neutral., 


Per Cent 


Vat No. 


Before 


I*ast. and Cooling 


Neutralizer 




Neutralization 


3 Hrs. After 


Not Reacting 






Neutral. 




1 


.67 
.63 


33 
.32 


19.0 


2 


18.4 


3 


.59 


.30 


14.7 


4 


.75 


.30 


10.0 


5 


:n 


.33 


15.4 


6 


.65 


.33 


20.0 


7 


.69 


.32 


15.9 


8 


.59 
1.00 


.32 
.35 


20.6 


9. 


13.3 


10 


.85 
.85 
.75 
.71 
.99 


.37 
.33 
.35 
.32 
.34 


20.0 


11 


13.3 


12 


20.0 


13 


15.2 


14 


12.0 






Average 


.75 


.33 


16.3 



1 Hunziker and Hosman, Investigation of Neutralizing Action of Lime in 
Different Acid Media, Blue Valley Research Laboratory, 1917. Results not 
published. 



162 



Neutralization o^ Sour Cream 



Table 26. — Reduction of Per Cent Acid in Cream and in Aqueous 
Solution of Lactic Acid and Per cent of Lime not Reacting. 

Enough lime was added in each case to theoretically reduce the 

acidity to .25%. 





Original 
Acid in 
Cream 

% 


Acid After 
Neutralization 


Difference 
Between Acid in 


Lime Not Re- 
acting 


tory 

Tests, 

No. 


In 
Cream 

% 


In Lactic 
Acid Sol. 

% 


Cream & 

Lactic 

Acid 

Sol. % 


Cream & 

.25% Acid 

% 


In 
Cream 

% 


In Lactic 
Acid Sol. 

% 


1 

2 

3 

4 

Average 


..900 
.900 
.891 
.900 
.898 


.385 
.367 
.346 
.390 
.372 


.250 
.238 
.255 
.261 
.251 


.135 
.117 
.091 
.129 
.118 


.135 
.129 
.096 
.140 
.125 


21.9 
20.0 
16.5 
200 
19.6 


—1.0 
0.0 
+ 0.6 
-1.1 
—0.38 



From the above tables, it is evident that from about 16 to 
20 per cent of the theoretically correct amount of lime added, 
fails to react with the lactic acid of the cream. In the factory 
tests the lime not so reacting averaged 16.3 per cent of the 
total lime added, while in the laboratory tests the deficiency 
in acid reduction averaged the equivalent of 19.6 per cent of 
the lime added. In the laboratory tests the amount of cream 
used was relatively very small and the preparation of the cor- 
respondingly very small amount of lime mix needed was diffi- 
cult, obviously inviting relatively large experimental errors. It 
may be assumed, therefore, with reasonable certainty that for 
all practical purposes about 16 per cent of the theoretically cal- 
culated amount of lime that is required to neutralize the acidity 
in cream to .25 per cent fails to react on the lactic acid. 

In order, therefore, to secure the full neutralizing action 
desired, that is to reduce the acidity of the cream to 
.25 per cent by the use of the neutralizing formula and tables 
given, it is necessary to increase the neutralizing strength of 
the milk of lim,e at least 16 per cent. This can readily be done 
in one or the other of the following ways : 

a) By using a correspondingly larger proportion of dry 
hydrated lime in making up the lime mix. Since the acid- 
reducing power of the lime mix is approximately 16 per cent 
less than the theoretical calculations specify, each 100 parts 
of lime mix has an actual neutralizing strength of only 84 parts. 



Neutralization oi? Sour CrEam 163 

Hence, in order to secure 100 per cent neutralizing* action, as 
called for in the tables, it is necessary to add enough more dry 
hydrated lime to the lime mix to make it 119 per cent (84 : 100 
r= 100 : X) strong. In other words, the amount of dry 
hydrated lime used to make up 1 gallon of lime mix must be 
increased by 19, or in round figures by 20 per cent. Instead 
of using 2 pounds of lime with enough water to make up 1 

^ X 19 
gallon of mix, use 2 + " .^ — 2.4 pound of dry hydrated 

lime ; or 

b) By selecting a type of lime, the alkalinity of which is 
approximately 19 to 20 per cent stronger than the alkalinity 
of 100 per cent calcium hydrated lime. An extended experi- 
mental study of the neutralizing action of different types of 
hydrated limes by the author showed that these stronger limes 
are readily available in the form of so-called magnesium limes. 
The hydrated limes, commercially known as magnesium limes, 
contain in addition to calcium, hydrate, from 35 to 50 per cent 
of magnesium oxide and their actual neutralizing strength 
averages from about 16 to 20 per cent greater than hydrated 
lime containing 100 per cent calcium hydrate. When using 
a magnesium lime, then, the original formula for making up 
the lime mix, i. e., two pounds dry lime with enough water to 
make up one gallon of mix, will reduce the acidity in the 
cream to the desired .25 per cent when the amounts of lime 
mix to be added, as indicated in the neutralizing table herein 
referred to, are used. 

That either of the above corrections, as given under (a) 
and (b), will produce correct results, and will neutralize the 
cream to .25 per cent acid under practical creamery conditions, 
may be readily observed in table 27 which shows the averages 
of 1,545 churnings of cream, each churning representing 250 
gallons of cream. 



164 



Neutralization of' Sour Cream 



Table 27. — Maximum, Minimum and Average Per Cent Acid in 
333 Churnings of Cream Neutralized with Calcium Lime When 
20% More Lime was Used Than is Necessary to Theoretically 
Reduce the Acidity to .25%, and Maximum, Minimum and Aver- 
age Per Cent Acid in 1212 Churnings of Cream Neutralized with 
Magnesium (Lime) Which is 16 to 20% Stronger Than Necessary 
to Theoretically Neutralize to .25% Acid. 







Calcium Lime 




Magnesium Lime 






Using 120% of 




Using 100% of 




No. of 


Lime to Theoret- 


No. of 
Churn- 


Lime Which 


Time of 


Churn- 


ically Neutral. 


Tested 16 to 20% 
Stronger Than 


Testing for 


ings 


to .25% Acid 


ings 










Calcium Lime 


Acid 












Max.lMin. 


Aver. 


'Max. Min. Aver. 






% 


% 


%> 




% % % 






Acid 


Acid 


Acid 




Acid Acid| Acid 


Before neutraliz. 


333 


.85 ! .49 1 .608 


1212 


.97 1 .31 j .495 


After neutraliz. 


3.33 


.28 


.22 


.250 


1212 


.30 1 .22 1 .251 



The above table convincingly shows that it is possible to 
neutralize to exactly .25 per cent acid with lime, provided that 
the lime not reacting is compensated for by using 20 per cent 
more lime than is theoretically required in the case of calcium 
lime, or by using the amount of lime theoretically necessary for 
calcium lime in the form of magnesium lime which is from 16 
to 20 per cent stronger in alkalinity than the calcium lime. 
In either case the acidity in the neutralized cream averages 
.25 per cent. 

The use of the magnesium lime at the ratio of two pounds 
of dry lime in one gallon of mix, is preferable to the use of the 
calcium lime at the ratio of 2.4 pounds of dry lime in one gallon 
of mix. A lime mix containing 2.4 pounds of dry hydrated lime 
in one gallon of mix is rather thick and does not yield to agitation 
as readily as might be desired. Again the 100 per cent calcium 
lime is seldom as finely pulverized as it ought to be for neutraliz- 
ing. Its relative coarseness renders it somewhat sluggish in its 
neutralizing action and unless intelligently and carefully pre- 
pared and handled, it tends to excessively combine mechanically 
with the curd of the cream, causing lumps. 



Neutralization of Sour Crkam 165 

Magnesium limes, which contain 35 to 50 per cent MgO 
have an alkalinity equal to 115 to 120 per cent of pure cal- 
cium hydrate. Their use requires only 2 pounds of the lime 
in one gallon of mix, to reduce the acidity to .25 per cent by 
the use of the neutralizing tables, appended. This lime mix is 
lighter and thinner, more easily agitated and made uniform in 
strength when used. The magnesium lime is perfectly whitfe 
and very finely pulverized, it distributes more readily in the 
cream and acts very satisfactorily. It does not convey to the 
cream any objectionable flavor. Lime stone, as a rule, con- 
tains either a large percentage of magnesium (35 to 50 .per cent) 
or a very small percentage of magnesium, less than 5 per 
cent, though there are exceptions. If magnesium lime is pur- 
chased, therefore, with the intention of securing a lime with 
relatively high neutralizing power, it should be ascertained 
that the lime contains 35 or more per cent of magnesium. 

Analyses^ show that the hydrated limes containing mag- 
nesium contain only enough water to satisfy the calcium. These 
limes, therefore, are a mixture of calcium hydrate and mag- 
nesium oxide. 

Incomplete Reaction of Lime in Cream Due to Affinity of 
Lime for Curd. — In previous paragraphs it was shown that 
while the lime is capable of, and does exert its full neutralizing 
strength in aqueous solutions of lactic acid, a portion of the 
lime, about 16 to 20 per cent, when added to sour cream, 
fails to so act. It remains now to explain why all of the lime 
does not react in the cream and what becomes of that portion 
which fails to react with the acid in the cream. 

It is well known that the casein has a marked affinity 
for calcium. In raw, sweet milk and cream the casein is 
present as a calcium salt. When cream becomes sour, the lac- 
tic acid thus formed removes calcium from the casein. This 
leaves a part of the casein as free casein which is a solid, and 
a part occurs as casein lactate which is in a colloidal state. 
The casein lactate, however, is readily hydrolized ; upon neu- 
tralization it is precipitated, becoming solid, so that from the 



» Brigham, S. T. Engineering news, Vol. 50, 



166 



Ne;utraIvIzation of Sour Cream 



standpoint of neutralization of cream, it may be considered 
equivalent to free casein. 

When lime is added to the sour cream the concentration 
of the acid is very greatly reduced and the concentration of 
the calcium is increased to excess. In the presence of free 
casein, these conditions are most favorable to the formation 
of calcium caseinate. 

Since both the lime, in the form of milk of lime, and the casein 
are in a similar physical state and have a specific chemical at- 
traction for each other, it appears unnecessary for the calcium 
to go into solution in order to react on the casein. 

That such action takes place is indicated by the fact that 
when cream is poured over dry hydrated lime, the lime gradually 
becomes coated with a layer of casein-like material that adheres 
to the particles of lime with which it comes in immediate contact. 
This is especially noticeable on heating. A similar action seems 
to take place when the lime is added to the cream in the vat, 
in concentrated form, either due to inadequate dilution of the 
lime mix or lack of proper distribution. Large lumps and masses 
form, the solid constituents of which consist largely of curd, with 
a very high lime content, and in which is locked up a good deal 
of fat, as shown in Table 28. 



Table 28. — Composition of Lumps in Cream Caused by the Use 

of Too Coarse or Too Concentrated Lime, or By Incomplete 

Distribution of the Lime Mix, 



Sample 
No. 


Water 

% 


Fat 

% 


Curd 

% 


Ash Expressed 
as CaO 

% 


Ash Expressed 

in Ca(OH). 

% 


1 

2. 

3 


59.06 
57.96 

58.56 


22.07 
19.29 
19.44 


6.13 
8.73 
7.84 


3.99 
3.82 
5.59 


5.27 
5.05 
7.38 



The greater affinity of the lime for the casein than for the 
lactic acid in the cream is proven by analysis of the serum and 
the curd,, respectively, of cream that was neutralized to .26% 
acid with milk of lime of the standard strength of two pounds 
of dry hydrated lime made up with water to one gallon of mix, 
as shown in Table 29. 



Ne;utralization of Sour Cream 



167 



Table 29. — Relative Action of Lime on Serum and on Curd in 
Cream When Neutralized. 





Per Cent Calcium in Cream 


Components 

of 

Cream 


Before 
Neutrali- 
zation 


After Neutr. 
to .26% 
Acidity 


Increase 

of 
Calcium 


Per Cent 

Increase 

of Calcium 


Seruin 


.049 
.105 


.074 
.405 


.025 
.300 


51.0 


Curd 


285.7 











The above figures show that while the serum of the neu- 
tralized cream contained 51% more calcium, the curd contained 
285.7% more calcium than was contained in the serum and curd 
before neutralization of the cream. This evidence can leave no 
doubt regarding the fact that the lime reacts with the casein and 
that this action exceeds the action of the lime on the lactic acid 
in the cream. 

Since casein is an acid body, it must follow that the readinesF, 
with which it enters into combination with the lime also causes 
it to surrender its acidity in excess of the action of the lime on 
the lactic acid. Table 30 shows that such is, in fact, the case. 

Table 30. — Relative Action of Lime on the Acid of the Curd 
and on the Lactic Acid in the Cream, Serum and Fat. 





Per Cent Acid in 


No. 


Cream 


Serum 


Curd 


Fat 


ot 
Sam- 
ples 


Un-I 

Neu-1 Neu- 
tral. 1 tral. 

% i % 


Re- 
duc- 
tion 
% 


Un- 
Neu- 
tral. 

% 


1 Re- 
Neu|duc- 
tral. I tion 

% j % 


Un- 
Neu- 
tral. 

% 


|Re- 
Neu-|duc- 
tral. 1 tion 

% ! % 


Un- 

Neu- 
tral. 

% 


•Re- 
Neu-lduc- 
tral. 1 tion 

% 1 % 


1 

2 

3 


.553 
.531 
.560 


.261 1 52.8 
.265 1 50.1 
.193 j 65.5 


.369 
.373 

.375 


.161 1 56.4 
.174 j 53.3 
.117 ! 68.8 


.124 
.120 
.123 


.043 
.045 
.034 


65.3 
62.5 

72.4 


.046 
.036 
.052 


.044 1 4.3 
.036 1 0.0 
.041 ! 21.0 


Aver. Reduction 
of Acid 56.1 


1 1 

1 i 59.5 


1 
I 66.7 


1 1 

1 1 8.4 



Table 30, unmistakably shows that the acid in the curd is 
reduced to a greater extent than the lactic acid in the serum. 

It should be understood that the lower the point to which 
neutralization of the cream is carried, the greater is naturally, 
the relative reduction of the lactic acid in the serum. But even 
in sample No 3, where the acidity in the cream was reduced to 



168 NeutraIvIzation of Sour Cream 

.193 per cent, the per cent reduction of acid in the curd still 
exceeded that in the serum, though to a lesser extent than when 
neutralization was carried only to .26% acid in the cream. The 
same tendency would obviously occur in the case of cream of 
very high acidity. It can readily be seen that while the lactic 
acid in the cream can be increased very greatly, the per cent curd 
and therefore, the amount of acid it contains is quite constant 
and remains practically the same. Hence in the neutralization 
of high-acid cream, the per cent reduction of the lactic acid in 
the serum might be greater than that in the curd. In very high 
acid cream, it might be possible for the acid in the curd to be 
reduced tO' the neutral point. This is improbable, however, 
because in such cream the stronger acid (the lactic acid of the 
serum) would claim more of the alkalinity of the lime. 

It should be noted also in Table 30, that the per cent reduc- 
tion of the acid in the fat is very slight. This may be explained 
by the probability that the fat becomes saturated with lactic 
acid from the acid serum and the acid so held is not redistributed 
in the serum, unless the serum is reduced to a low percentage 
of acid. This assumption is borne out in the case of Sample 
No. 3, representing cream neutralized to .193 per cent acid and 
in which the acid reduction in the fat was abnormally great. 

Ability of Acid Test with Sodium Hydroxide to Show Total 
Acidity in Cream. — It has been shown that the lime has a great 
affinity for the casein, that the curd of neutralized cream absorbs 
over five times as much calcium as the serum and that the action 
of the lime on the acid in the curd is in excess of that on the 
lactic acid in the scrum. The question then arises, does Sodium 
which is used in testing the cream for acid, and in the use of 
which the titration is carried to the neutral point, show a similar 
preference for the acid in the curd as the lime? In other words, 
does the acid test show the total acid in the cream, including 
both the lactic acid and the casein acid, or does it indicate the 
lactic acid only? 

This question is important, because if the acid test rep- 
resented the determination of the lactic acid only, then it would 
not be a true index of the acidity of the cream and it would also 
furnish a very logical explanation of why a portion of the lime 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 



169 



added to the cream shows no reduction in the acidity as deter- 
mined by Mann's acid test. 

Table 31 demonstrates that sodium hydroxide, such as is 
used in the acid tests, does indicate the total acid in the cream, 
including the lactic acid, curd acid and fat acid. Its action is 
very nearly equal to that of lime. The figures in this table were 
analyzed, for percentage of acidity, separately. The table shows 
that the sum of the acid in the components — the serum, curd and 
fat — of the cream is practically equal to the acid in the original 
cream. 



Table 31. — Per Cent Acid in Unneutralized Cream and Its 

Components. 



Components of Cream 




Per Cent Acid in Cream and 
Its Components 




Lot l.|Lot 2.|Lot 3.|Lot 4.| Aver. 


Cream " 


.560 .531 1 553 1 461 






Serum 


.375 |.373 |.369 j.335 | 


Curd 


.123 |.120 |.124 1.108 


Fat 


.052 j.036 |.046 |.039 


Total components 


.550 1 529 1 539 1 482 






Difference between cream and 
components 


total 


1 i ! 

.01— I 002— 1 014 — 1021+ 001— 







"-" acidity in total components less than acidity in cream. 
" + " acidity in total components more than acidity in cream. 



Further evidence of the fact that sodium shows similar 
preference for curd as lime does may be found in Table 32. In 
this experiment the neutralizing action of the lime water (lime 
hydrate in solution) and sodium hydrate is shown. Here neutrali- 
zation was carried to the neutral point. The action of the two 
alkalies was very similar. 



170 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 



Table 32. — Showing Neutralizing Action of Lime Water and 
Sodium Hydroxide. 



Neutralized 
with 


Original 
Acid 

% 


Acidity 
Reduced 

% 


Acidity Remain- 
ing After Heating 
to 145° F. 


Total Acidity 

Reduced to Reach 

Neutral Point 

% 


Sodium hydrate, 
N/10 

Calcium hydrate, 
N/20 in solution 


.639 
.659 


.393 
.448 


.246 
.221 


.624 
.625 



The neutralizers were added in two installments. After the 
first addition the cream was heated to 145° F. for one hour, then 
enough more neutralizer was added to reduce the cream to the 
neutral point. 

The lesser total acidity which was required for complete 
neutralization, was undoubtedly due to the expulsion of carbon 
dioxide, during the heating process. The slight decrease in the 
acidity due to pasteurization is a matter of common experience. 
These figures show a slight difference in the total neutralizing 
effect between the sodium hydroxide and the lime water. This 
is probably caused by the difference in dilution of the neutralized 
cream, the greater dilution due to the lime water facilitating the 
recognition of the end point in the titration. 

When neutralization is not carried to the end point, or neutral 
point, the distribution of the Sodium hydroxide and the calcium 
hydrate in solution differs somewhat; a slightly smaller propor- 
tion of the remaining acid is lactic acid, when sodium hydroxide 
is used, than in the case of lime water. 

This difference in the action of the two alkalies is materially 
augmented when milk of lime (lime hydrate not in solution) is 
used in the place of lime water. This is shown in Table 33, 



Neutralization oi^ Sour Cream 



171 



Table 33. — Showing Relative Action of Sodium Hydrate, Lime 
Water and Milk of Lime on Acidity in Serum of Cream. 



Character 

of 
Neutralizer 


Original 
Acidity 

% 


Acidity of 

Cream After 

Neutralization 

% 


Acidity of 

Serum After 

Neutralization 

% 


Reduction 
of Acidity 
in Serum 

% 


Sodium hy- 


.637 


.250 


.028x50% 


.323 


droxide 


.637 


.250 


.028 


.323 


Lime water. . . 


.637 


.250 


.034 


.317 


.637 


.:>50 


.037 


.314 


Milk of lime.. 


.637 


.250 


.044 


.307 


.637 


.250 


.044 


.307 



The figures in Table 33 shov/ that when neutralization is 
not carried to the neutral point, adding neutralizer sufficient only 
to reduce the acidity to .25% acid, the lime water (lime in so- 
lution) shows somewhat greater preference for the casein than 
for the serum and that this preference for the casein is greatly 
augmented in the case of milk of lime. Both the lime water and 
the milk of lime showed greater preference for the casein than did 
the sodium hydroxide, hence the lime neutralizers had less alka- 
linity left to act on the lactic acid in the serum, and reduced the 
acidity in the serum to a lesser extent than did the sodium neu- 
tralizer. It should be clearly understood here that this difference 
of distribution of the neutralizing action between sodium hydrate 
and calcium hydrate occurs only when the neutralization is not 
carried to the neutral point. Tables 31 and 32 show that when 
neutralization is carried to the neutral point, the sodium hydrate 
fully neutralizes both the lactic acid in the serum and the acid 
in the casein. This fact furnishes reliable proof that the acid test 
with sodium hydroxide shows the total acidity in cream. Its 
results are, therefore, correct, and they demonstrate that the 
incomplete acid reduction of the lime is not due to any short- 
comings of the acid test of the cream, but must be due to the 
great affinity of the lime for the casein which causes the me- 
chanical combination of particles of undissolved lime with 
particles of solid casein, thereby mechanically tying up a portion 



172 Ne^utralization of Sour Cream 

of the lime and making the alkalinity of the portion of the lime, 
so fixed, unavailable for acid reduction. 

Summary of Action of Lime in Sour Cream. — Summing up 
the foregoing discussion concerning the action of lime hydrate 
when used as a neutralizer in sour cream, the following points 
are of importance : 

(1) When a suffiicient amount of lime is added to sour cream 
to theoretically reduce the acidity in the cream to .25% acid, 
the lime fails to accomplish the full extent of this acid reduction. 
About 16 to 20% of the lime does not react. 

(2) This delinquency may be corrected by using approxi- 
mately 20%i more lime hydrate, thus making the lime mix about 
16% stronger than required theoretically, or by using instead 
of calcium lime, magnesium lime. Magnesium lime containing 
from 35 to 50%- magnesium oxide has an alkalinity equivalent in 
strength to approximately 116 to 120% of pure calcium lime. 

(3) Lime has a marked affinity for casein. The absorption 
of lime by the casein and the reduction of the casein acid are 
greater than the absorption of lime by the serum and the reduc- 
tion of the lactic acid. 

(4) When neutralization is carried to the neutral point, the 
distribution of the neutralizing action in the components of cream 
— the serum, curd and fat — is similar with sodium hydrate as it 
is with lime water. 

(5) The acid test of the cream determines the total acidity 
of the cream, including both the casein acid and the lactic acid, 
It yields, therefore, the correct per cent of acid. 

(6) The deficiency of the neutralizing action of the lime is 
due to physical and mechanical combination between portions 
of insoluble lime and the curd. The fact that from 16 to 20% 
of the lime does not react in the cream must be attributed to the. 
great affinity of the lime for casein, particles of lime adhering 
and becoming permanently attached to particles of free casein. 
In this condition the lime so held is unable to exert its full neu- 
tralizing action. 

Adding Lime Mix in Proper Manner. — It is not enough to 
use the right strength and amount of lime. The lime mix must 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 173 

be handled in the proper manner, after it is made up and before 
it is added, otherwise it cannot accomplish that for which it is 
used. Lime settles to the bottom quickly, hence it must be stirred 
thoroughly before use. It must be strained and diluted with 
an equal volume of water before it is poured into the cream and 
it must be sprinkled over the entire surface of the cream while 
the cream is in agitation. Sediment of limy curd in the bottom 
of the forewarmer or vat is a fairly conclusive proof that the lime 
mix was not added as it should have been. 

In order to secure maximum reaction between the alkalinity 
of the lime and the acid in the cream, the neutralizer must be 
distributed thinly and uniformly throughout the entire batch of 
cream. This is possible only when the lime mix is reasonably 
diluted before it is poured into the vat, and when it is added, not 
in one place, but over the entire vat, in the form of a small 
stream, or a spray, and while the cream in the vat is vigorously 
agitated. 

If the full strength of undiluted lime mix is "dumped" into the 
vat all in one place, there is very intense action on the curd, a 
portion of the lime mechanically combines with the curd and fat, 
and will drop to the bottom of the vat in the form of lumps. In 
this case the lime so fixed, fails to yield its full alkalinity to the 
serum of the cream and the acid reduction falls short of that 
calculated even when an excess of 16 to 20% of lime is used, and 
accurate results from such procedure need not be expected. 
This lack of proper distribution of the neutralizer in the cream 
has the further disadvantage of causing excessive loss of fat, 
the lumps of limy curd in the bottom of the vat being high in 
fat content. 

To avoid this, the lime mix should be diluted with an equal 
volume of w^ater and its uniform distribution is facilitated by 
spraying it over the vigorously agitated cream, from a flower 
sprinkling can. 

Checking Results by Retesting. — Finally, if the operator is 
to do continuously accurate and reliable work, he must check 
his work by retesting the cream for acid, after he has given 
the neutralizer the proper time and condition for full action. 



174 Neutralization of Sour Cream 

Other Factors That Cause Irregularities of Results of Neu- 
tralization. — The complexity of the physical and chemical 
make-up of cream, its susceptibility to a variety of changes in 
composition, which are largely beyond the control of the cream- 
ery, together with irregularities in the preparation and use of 
the neutralizer which are largely due to the personal factor of 
the operator, naturally invite frequent fluctuations in the results 
of neutralization, and interfere more or less with the desired 
uniformity and accuracy of the results. Notwithstanding 
these facts, the use of a systematic process of neutralization 
makes possible the removal of excess acid and the reduction of 
the acidity to the desired point, within the limits of not to 
exceed .05 per cent acid above or below that desired. It en- 
ables the creamery to secure the full benefit of neutralization 
without danger of overneutralization and its detrimental efifect 
on the quality of the finished product. 

The dominating factors which cause fluctuations in the re- 
duction of the acidity of the cream by neutralization are the 
original per cent acid in the cream before neutralization, the 
per cent casein in the cream, the amount of carbondioxide in the 
cream, the strength, dilution and distribution of the lime mix 
when added, the temperature of the cream and the time allowed 
for neutralization. 

Effect of Original Per Cent Acid in Cream Before Neutral- 
ization on Accuracy of Acid Reduction. — It has been shown 
that in the neutralization of cream of average acidity (testing 
about .60 to .80 per cent acid), a portion of the lime (from about 
16 to 20 per cent) does not react and that, therefore, lime suffi- 
cient in amount, or in strength to be equivalent in alkalinity to 16 
to 20 per cent in excess of that required tO' theoretically reduce 
the acidity to the desired point must be added. It was further 
shown that this loss of reaction of a portion of the lime is due 
to the fact that a part of the solid particles of lime mechanically 
combines with the solid particles of casein, rendering the alka- 
linity of the lime so held inaccessible to the acid in the cream. 

The amount of lime not reacting is, therefore, fairly con- 
stant and does not vary greatly with the acidity of the cream. 
It is not proportional with the original per cent acid present 
in the cream. Hence in very high-acid cream, the 16 to 20 per 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 



175 



cent excess lime added will tend to reduce the acidity ot the 
cream slightly below the calculated point, while in cream of 
relatively low original acidity, the point to which the acidity 
drops will tend to be slightly aboA^e the calculated point. 

Effect of Per Cent Casein in Cream on Accuracy of Acid 
Reduction. — Since the fact, that a portion of the lime does not 
react, is due to the mechanical tying-up of a portion of the lime 
with the casein, the amount of lime not reacting must of 
necessity vary with the per cent casein in the cream, and this 
in turn is largely controlled by the fat content of the cream. 
Generally speaking, the ratio of solids not fat to water in cream 
is the same as that in milk, hence the more fat, and therefore, 
the less water cream contains, the lower is the per cent of solids 
not fat in cream, and the per cent curd, being a non-fatty con- 
stituent is also reduced correspondingly. The following Anal- 
ysis of Cream, by Richmond,^ illustrates this point clearly. 



Table 34. — Composition of Cream. 





Thick Cream 


Thin Cream 

% 


Water 


39.37 

56.09 

2.29 

1.57 

.38 


63.94 


Fat 

Sugar 

Protein 

Ash 


29.29 

3.47 

2.76 

.54 




99.70 


100.00 



The above analysis shows that cream testing 56. per cent 
fat contained only 1.57 per cent protein, while cream testing 3(7. 
per cent fat contained 2.76 per cent protein. 

The smaller curd content of rich cream, therefore, ties up 
less lime than the larger curd content of thin cream. In the 
case of rich cream, the proportion of lime not reacting with the 
lactic acid is less than in thin cream. Hence the acidity in rich 
cream is reduced to a slightly lower point than that in thin 
cream, when the calculated amount of lime used is the same 
for both, rich and thin cream. 



1 Richmond Dairy Ciiemistry, Second Edition, 1914, p. 266. 



176 Neutralization of Sour Cream 

Effect of Amount of Carbondioxide in Cream, on Accuracy 
of Acid Reduction. — When determining the acidity present in 
cream before neutralization by titration with sodium hydrox- 
ide, the results show not only the lactic acid and the casein 
acid present, but also the carbondioxide that cream may contain. 
But the carbondioxide escapes during pasteurization, being ex- 
pelled by heat; it, therefore, does not claim the alkalinity of 
the lime added, and allows this alkalinity to further reduce the 
lactic acid and casein acid of the cream. 

The carbondioxide content of cream is very variable. It 
is largely the result of fermentation. In fresh and only moder- 
ately sour cream it is very slight, while in highly acid cream 
and especially in yeasty cream, it ma}' be relatively great. 
Hence, the addition of the amount of lime calculated to reduce 
the acidity to a given point when based on the original acid 
test of the cream before neutralization will, in the case of high 
acid and fermented cream, drop the acidity to a sligthly lower 
point than that calculated. This irregularity is somewhat mini- 
mized by the heating of the cream in the forewarmer, which 
expels a portion of the carbondioxide present before the cream 
is tested for its original acidity, and the higher the temperature 
to which the cream is heated in the forewarmer, the more of 
the carbondioxide is liberated. This fact, however, should not 
be interpreted to mean that it is desirable to heat the sour- 
cream excessively before neutralization. Such a practice would 
in part forfeit the benefits of neutralization, causing, especially 
in the case of thin, sour cream, the formation of an abnormal 
curd, with excessive loss of fat and the danger of white specks 
in the butter. The temperature of the cream before neutral- 
ization, either in the forewarmer or in the pasteurizing vat. 
should not be raised above 90 degrees F., if these defects are 
to be avoided in a dependable manner by neutralization. 

Effect of 'Time and Temperature on Accuracy of Acid 
Reduction. — The neutralizing action of the lime is comparatively 
slow, it is not instantaneous. The acid test of the cream, made 
immediately after neutralization, does not show the full neu- 
tralizing power of the lime. The per cent acid found in the 
cream at that time is higher than the calculated per cent acid 



Neutralization of Sour Cream 



177 



to which the cream is to be reduced. Time is required for com- 
plete action. Creameries that add their neutralizer by guess 
and then calculate from the per cent acid found in the cream 
immediately after neutralization the additional amount of lime 
needed to reduce the acidity to the desired point, will fail to 
secure uniform results and may, under certain conditions, un- 
knowingly overneutralize the cream. 

Proper dilution and distribution of the lime greatly hasten 
the action of the lime and the heat of pasteurization assists in 
completing it. The following table may serve to show the rate 
at which neutralization progresses from the time the lime mix, 
properly diluted, is added to the cream, when the temperature 
of the cream at the time of neutralization averages about 90 
degrees F. 

Table 35. — Showing Progressive Reduction of Acidity in Cream 
After the Addition of the Neutralizer. 





Per 


Cent Acid in Cream 








Aher Pasteur- 


Number of Batches 




Immediately 


ization and 


of Cream 


Before 


After 


Cooling; 2 to 3 




Neutralization 


Neutralization 


Hrs. After 
Neutralization 


Averages of 139 batches.. 


.658 


.295 


.251 


Averages of 114 batches.. 


.755 


.291 


.243 


Averages of 175 batches.. 


.729 


.369 


.270 


Averages of 181 batches.. 


.740 


.362 


.275 


Averages of 97 batches.. 


.553 


.303 


.256 


Averages of 133 batches.. 


.653 


.363 


.256 


Averages of 96 batches.. 


.485 


.300 


.244 


Averages of 228 batches.. 


.517 


.281 


.247 


Averages of 76 batches.. 


.524 


.298 


.268 


Averages of 93 batches.. 


.594 


.335 


.271 


Averages of 140 batches.. 


.611 


343 


.249 


Averages of 1472 batches. 


.620 


.322 


.257 



Effect of Neutralization on the Composition of Butter. — 

The composition of butter made from neutralized cream does 
not appreciably differ from that made of unneutralized cream. 
The curd content of butter tends to be slightly reduced as the 



178 Neutrauzation of Sour Cri;am 

result of neutralization. Ramsay^ found the following differ- 
ences in curd content. 

Butter Made From Per cent Curd 

Unneutralized Cream 1.28 

Cream treated with Sodium Bicarbonates 87 

Cream treated with Calcium Carbonate 72 

The above analyses show a rather unusually high per cent 
of curd in butter made from both, neutralized and unneutral- 
ized cream. When butter is washed properly the curd content 
generally averages several tenths per cent lower. However, they 
are valuable because they show the relative reduction of curd 
content due to neutralization. 

The decrease in the curd content may be explained by the 
fact that the neutralizer causes the precipitated curd to be 
firmer, more grainy and to separate more completely from the 
serum. This is especially the case with lime-neutralized cream, 
but even sodium-neutralized cream has a firmer curd than un- 
neutralized cream. In this firmer condition more of the curd 
passes into the buttermilk and less is taken up by the butter. 
A. similar difference is noted between butter made from sour 
and sweet cream. In sweet cream, the curd is present in a 
more colloid condition which sticks to the butter particles and 
causes such butter to have a higher curd content than sour 
cream butter. 

The butter made from lime-neutralized cream contains 
slightly more calcium than butter made from untreated cream. 
Wichmann^ found a slight increase in the calcium oxide of the 
salt-free ash of neutralized cream butter, as well as in the butter 
itself, and he claims that when the calcium oxide content of 
butter exceeds .025 per cent, there is strong indication that such 
butter was made from limed cream, provided that the salt added 
to the butter did not contain calcium salts. The slight increase 
in the calcium oxide of lime-neutralized butter is in all prob- 
ability due to the calcium attached to the curd. As shown in 
previous paragraphs, the calcium content of the curd increased 



1 Ramsay. Note on Neutralization of Cream in Butter Manufacture and the 
Effect on tile Butter Produced. New Soutli Wales Dept. Agr., Science Bulletin 
No. 16, 1915. 



Directions for Neutralizing Cream 179 

about fivefold when lime was added to the cream. Wich- 
mann's results, however, are marred by the fact that his experi- 
ments seem to have lacked a systematic and accurate method of 
neutralizing. The lime was apparently added by guess and the 
acid test was taken immediately after neutralization, so that the 
full neutralizing action was not determined. It is doubtful that 
butter made from lime-neutralized cream contains enough more 
calcium oxide to reliably detect neutralization by chemical anal- 
ysis. In fact such butter might, under certain conditions, con- 
tain no more or even less lime oxide than butter made from un- 
treated cream, depending on the completeness of the removal 
of the buttermilk, which in turn largely depends on the size of 
the butter granules when the churn is stopped and on the 
thoroughness of washing the butter, 

SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS FOR NEUTRALIZING CREAM 
WITH LIME HYDRATE. 

1. Secure hydrated lime that is relatively free from 
carbonates. 

If the hydrated lime is a calcium lime .(containing but little, 
not over five per cent magnesium oxide), make up a lime mix 
or milk of lime by using 2.4 pounds of the dry hydrated lime for 
every gallon of mix. 

2. If the hydrated lime is a magnesium lime, containing 
not less than 30 to 35 per cent magnesium oxide, make up a lime 
mix or milk of lime by using 2 pounds of the dry hydrated lime 
for every gallon of mix. 

3. Magnesium lime is more satisfactory than calcium lime. 

4. For making up lime mix in small quantities use a ten- 
gallon can, add 24 pounds of calcium lime or preferably 20 
pounds of magnesium lime, fill half full of water, stir until the 
emulsion is complete, then fill the can full with water and stir 
again. This now represents the milk of lime, or lime mix, or 
lime neutralizer. Use the neutralizing tables for determining 
the correct quantity of this neutralizer required to reduce the 
acidity in the cream to .25 per cent. 



180 Directions for Np:utrauzing Cream 

5. For making up larger quantities of lime neutralizer, use 
a circular tank with agitator, similar to a starter can. A tank 
with an operating capacity of say 100 gallons may be found 
most convenient. Mark the level at which the tank contains 
100 gallons. This is readily done by pouring ten 10-gallon cans 
full of water into it and punching a small hole into the side of 
the tank at a point level with the surface of the water. 

6. Withdraw half of the water and weigh into the tank 200 
pounds of dry hydrated magnesium lime or 240 pounds of dry 
hydrated calcium, lime, revolve the agitator until all lumps have 
disappeared and a homogeneous emulsion is secured. Fill up the 
tank with water to the 100 gallon mark and stir again. 

A lime mix tank equipped with mechanical agitator which 
is operated by belt or motor power is much preferable to one 
with a hand agitator, as it obviates the laborious work of hand 
stirring and insures more complete homogenousness of the mix. 

\ 

7. Now mix the milk of lime in the lime tank thoroughly, 
giving the agitator at least 15 vigorous turns in the case a hand 
agitator is used. Then measure out with a gallon measure 
graduated to half pints the required amount of neutralizer, as 
indicated in the neutralizing table. 

8. Strain it through a cheese cloth into a garden sprinkling 
pot, add an equal amount of water and sprinkle the neutralizer 
over the cream in all parts of the vat. 

9. Keep the cream agitated while the neutralizer is being 
added. 

10. Always make sure that the quantity of cream and the 
test of the original acid present are correct, that the milk of 
lime has been properly mixed before removing the required 
amount from the lime mix tank and that the neutralizer is prop- 
erly diluted before it is added to the cream. 

11. It is advisable to not heat the cream much above 90 
degrees F. before the neutralizer is added. 



Pasteurization ' 181 

Chapter VIII. 
PASTEURIZATION. 

Definition. — As applied to buttermaking, pasteurization may 
be defined as the process of heating milk or cream to a tem- 
perature capable of destroying the great majority of bacteria 
and other ferments contained therein and of cooling quickly to 
the ripening or churning temperature. 

In proper pasteurization the milk or cream is heated to 
145 degrees F. and held at that temperature for at least twenty 
minutes or it is heated to from 176 to 185 degrees F. and cooled 
without holding. Proper pasteurization may also embrace any 
modification of the above relations of temperature to time of ex- 
posure that is equivalent in germ-killing efificiency to the above 
processes and has otherwise no injurious efifect on the flavor 
and texture of butter. If the cream is to be ripened subse- 
quently, it is cooled after pasteurization to about 65 degrees F. 
If the ripening process is dispensed with the cream is cooled 
after pasteurization to the churning temperature which will gen- 
erally vary from 45 degrees F. to 60 degrees F., according to 
locality and season of year. 

Objects of Pasteurization. — Pasteurization does not make 
possible the manufacture of fancy butter from a poor grade of 
cream, but it does help the creamery to minimize the injurious 
efifect of contamination of milk and cream with diverse types 
of germ life and ferments injurious to the quality of the butter 
and possibly dangerous to the health and life of the consumer. 
Proper pasteurization, therefore, improves the quality, and keep- 
ing properties of butter and makes the product safe for consump- 
tion. Briefly, the chief objects of pasteurization of cream for but- 
termaking are: Improvement of flavor of butter, better keeping 
quality, more uniform flavor and quality, destruction of germs 
of human and animal diseases, increase of economic efiiciency 
of dairy industry. 

Improvement of Flavor. — Proper pasteurization improves 
the flavor of butter, partly, because it destroys the great major- 
ity of ferments present in the cream, some of which are prone 
to decompose one or more of the ingredients of butter, produc- 



182 Pasteurization 

ing objectionable flavors and odors and partly, because the pas- 
teurizing heat removes from the cream gases and volatile and 
soluble substances which possess undesirable odors. 

Experimental results conducted at various experiment sta- 
tions in this country and abroad have conclusively demonstrated 
that efficient pasteurization destroys over 99 per cent of the 
micro-organisms present in the cream. The type of micro-organ- 
ism most damaging to the quality of butter is the liquefying 
bacteria — those which attack the proteins and fat, — and certain 
species of yeast and molds. Bacteriological analyses of cream 
before and after pasteurization show that the per cent decrease 
of these undesirable germs is practically the same as that of the 
lactic acid bacteria. 

Pasteurization expels from the cream, vapors and gases, espe- 
cially carbondioxide gas, which carry with them objectionable 
volatile substances which may have been absorbed mechanically 
or which have developed in the cream due to bacterial action. 
This expulsion is further facilitated by the reduced viscosity of 
the hot pasteurized cream. Gases are less soluble and more 
volatile at high temperatures, therefore they escape more read- 
ily from pasteurized cream. In raw cream they tend to go in 
solution, they remain in the cream and may be carried into the 
butter. 

Soluble decomposition products, stich as may be present in 
cream that has yielded to fermentation, are more easily expel- 
led from the cream and butter made from pasteurized cream 
than from raw cream. The clusters of fat globules break up, 
and ofifer a greater surface for the liberation of these biprod- 
ucts. Some of these products as well as the curd, that harbor 
faulty odors, are precipitated more completely by pasteurization 
and in this condition pass off in the buttermilk. The curd con- 
tracts and squeezes out soluble substances, so that part of 
the curd which subsequently does become a part of the butter 
is freer from these undesirable, soluble bi-products. 

Improves Keeping Quality. — Since certain species of bac- 
teria, yeast and molds that may be present in the cream, cause 
deterioration of the butter in storage, the elimination of these 



Pasteurization 183 

micro-organisms retards such deterioration and improves the 
keeping quality of the butter. High temperature pasteurization 
also destroys the activity of enzymes, some of which are capable 
of decomposing one or more of the constituents of butter, shorten- 
ing its life. The destruction of their activity, therefore, furnishes 
additional protection against deterioration of butter w^ith age. 

At best the great bulk of butter is several weeks old before 
it reaches the pantry of the consumer, and during this time it 
is often exposed to unfavorable temperature conditions which 
stimulate bacterial and enzyme action. Large quantities of but- 
ter are also stored for a considerable length of time for the pur- 
pose of holding it over from summer, the time of surplus, till 
winter, the period of usual shortage. It is, therefore, of great 
economic importance that the butter have sufficient keeping 
properties to successfully withstand the deteriorating influences 
of age. 

Produces Greater Uniformity of Quality. — ^Uniformity of 
flavor and quality are essential requisites for the successful 
marketing of butter. The consumer demands that the butter on 
his table be of uniform quality. With intelligent pasteurization 
the fermentations in the cream and butter can be more readily 
controlled, thus insuring greater uniformity of the resulting 
flavor of the butter of different churnings. Instead of being 
constantly and entirely at the mercy of the conditions to which 
the cream is exposed on the farm and in transportation, the 
buttermaker, by means of efficient pasteurization, is able to 
modify the variable bacterial flora in cream, eliminating un- 
desirable ferments and thereby producing a butter of greater 
uniformity in flavor and quality. 

Where it is desired to ripen the cream, pasteurization assists 
in confining the ripening process to the fermentations which are 
desired and to the exclusion of fermentations of known inju- 
rious effect. 

Destroys Disease Germs. — Pasteurization, when properly 
executed, also frees the cream, buttermilk and butter from germs 
of human and animal diseases, thus making the butter safer for 
human consumption, raising the standard of safety and whole- 
someness of the product in the eyes of the public and protect- 



184 Pasteurization 

ing the livestock interests of the country against the spread of 
infectious diseases among young stock and hogs fed on skim 
milk and buttermilk returned to the farm. 

Increases Economic Efficiency of Dairy Industry. — For the 

reasons above indicated, pasteurization has distinct economic 
value. Through improving the flavor and keeping quality of 
butter, pasteurization stimulates the appetite and demand for 
butter; it assists the creamery in securing a satisfactory price 
for its product and protects it against heavy losses caused by 
the development of costly defects of butter made from contam- 
inated raw cream. The increased demand for the improved 
product, accompanied by better prices, and the elimination of 
serious loss due to specific butter defects, in turn, enable the 
creamery to ofifer to the farmer maximum prices for his butter 
fat, to increase his profits and thereby to stimulate the produc- 
tion of milk and cream, and indirectly to improve the fertility 
of the soil. 

Through destruction of disease germs pasteurization safe- 
guards the physical welfare of the consumer and minimizes the 
danger of heavy losses of livestock due to epizootics resulting 
from the feeding of infected creamery bi-products to farm 
animals. 

The improved quality of butter made from pasteurized cream 
and the guarantee which such butter offers the consumer, as a 
product wholesome and free from germs of disease, are the most 
forceful weapons the dairy industry possesses in its never-end- 
ing struggle against competition with foreign butter and butter 
substitutes at home, and in its efforts to establish permanent and 
satisfactory markets abroad. 

Essential Conditions for Successful Pasteurization. — Many 
butter buyers are looking upon butter made from pasteurized 
cream with disfavor, claiming that such butter lacks the desired 
flavor, open grain and "live" body of raw cream butter. And it is 
a fact that some butter made from pasteurized cream has marked 
defects in flavor and in body. In the great majority of these 



Pasti^urization 18" 

cases the cause, however, lies in the improper and faulty appli- 
cation of pasteurization. These criticisms should not be inter- 
pretated as a condemnation of the principle of pasteurization, 
they refer only to the faulty use of a beneficial process. Butter 
made from properly pasteurized cream does not harbor these 
defects and is not subject to these criticisms. 

In order to apply the process of pasteurization so as to ac- 
complish its helpful objects and to guard against undesirable 
results, the creamery must use efficient equipment of adequate 
capacity and kept in sanitary condition, it must have a sufficient 
and constant supply of heating and cooling media for rapid heat- 
ing and cooling and for efifective temperature control and, above 
all, the process must be supervised by a competent operator 
whose experience, knowledge and judgment enable him to prop- 
erly prepare the cream for, and to conduct, the process in an 
intelligent and efficient manner. 

Methods of Pasteurization. — There are in use at the present 
time fundamentally three methods of pasteurizing cream for 
buttermaking. These are the flash or continuous method, the vat 
or holding method and the combined flash and holding method. 

In the flash or continuous process of pasteurization the 
cream flows through the pasteurizer in a continuous stream, is 
heated from 176 to 185 degrees F. and then immediately cooled to 
the ripening temperature, or the churning temperature. 

In the vat or holding method of pasteurization the crearn 
is heated in a vat with agitator to a temperature of about 145 
degrees F., then held at that temperature for twenty to thirty 
minutes and cooled to the ripening or churning temperature. 

In the combined flash and holding method of pasteurization 
the cream flows through a continuous pasteurizer, is heated to 
a temperature ranging from about 150 to 170 degrees F. and 
is held in a vat at the above or at lower temperatures for from 
ten to thirty minutes, after which it is cooled to the ripening or 
churning temperature. 



186 



Pasteurization 



FLASH OR CONTINUOUS METHOD OF PASTEUR- 
IZATION. 

Flash Pasteurizers. — The following is a list of some of the 
more popular flash or continuous pasteurizers and coolers now 
in use in American creameries : 

'Jensen old style 

Stationary jacketed 
drum with revolv- 
ing agitator 



Continuous 
pasteurizers 



Regenerative with 
revolving drum 



Revolving discs 




Jensen sanitary 

Reed 

Peerless 

Simplex centrifugal 

Eclipse 



Jensen sanitary pas- 
teurizer, regenera- 
tor and cooler 

Progress regenera- 
tive 
^Simplex regenerative 



rFarrington 
< Farrington Jr 
(^Miller Tyson 




Tig. 22. Jensen flash pasteurizer 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co. 



Tig. 23. Peerless flasb pastenrizer 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co. 



Pasteurization 187 

Principal Features of Diferent Types of Flash Pasteur- 
izers. — The flash, or continuous pasteurizers are principally of 
three types. 1. Those consisting of a hollow drum, equipped 
with a revolving agitator and surrounded by a heating jacket. 
2. Those consisting of two hollow drums, the smaller rotating 
inside the larger one and with the heating or cooling medium 
circulating in the inner drum and in the jacket surrounding the 
outer drum, while the cream passes in a thin film between the 
heating surfaces of the two drums. The latter are frequently 
of the regenerative type. 3. Those consisting of compartments 
equipped with revolving discs which heat the cream while it 
flows through the compartment. This type of pasteurizers 
usually, though not always, contains also compartments for cool- 
ing the heated cream. 

Some creameries use two flash pasteurizers, connected tan- 
dem fashion, in the place of one. The machines are frequently 
installed at different elevations. In the lower machine the cream 
is heated to about 135 degrees F. and in the upper machine to 
about 180 degrees F. The cream flows from the lower to the 
upper machine and these pasteurizers may be so connected 
that the first or lower machine is heated by the exhaust steam of 
the upper or second machine, or each machine may be heated 
with direct steam in which case they are generally installed side 
by side on the same level. This double system of flash pasteur- 
ization, when properly operated, helps to insure thoroughness 
of heating. 

All of the flash pasteurizers with closed drums have the 
power of elevating the cream, making unnecessary the use of 
pumps to convey the pasteurized cream over the coolers or into 
the vats. 

Some of the flash pasteurizers do part cooling of the heated 
cream, while the remainder are heaters only and require sepa- 
rate coolers. For this purpose surface coil coolers are most 
generally installed. Frequently the surface cooler is done 
away with and internal tube coolers or other coolers are used, 
or the heated cream may flow direct from the flash pasteurizer 
into the ripening vat where it is cooled by the revolving coil. 



188 



Pasteurization 



Regenerative Heaters and Coolers. — Some of the heaters 
and coolers are arranged on what is known as the regenerative 
principle. The inflowing cold cream is heated by the hot cream 
passing from the pasteurizer, and the outflowing hot cream is 
cooled by the cold cream flowing to the pasteurizer. The hot 

and cold cream tend 
to equalize their re- 
spective temperatures 
by passing in counter- 
current directions. 
M a n u f a c turers of 
these coolers claim 
that the regenerative 
principle effects a sav- 
ing of heat and cold 
amounting to 25 to 35 
per cent of the fuel 
needed. 

Construction of 
Flash Pasteurizers. — 

Most of the contin- 
uous pasteurizers are 
constructed of copper 
with heavily tinned 
heating surface. Some of these pasteurizers are lined with Ger- 
man silver. From the standpoint of heat conductivity there is 
little choice between the two metals. Their efficiency is prac- 
tically equally high. The German silver has the advantage of 
preserving the brightness of its surface. In the copper-lined 
machine the tin coating soon wears off. This, however, is no 
serious objection as long as the copper surface is kept bright and 
no verdigris is permitted to form. 

The details of construction and of power transmission vary 
somewhat with the diff'erent types and makes of flash pasteur- 
izers. Their descriptions are usually furnished by the respective 
manufacturers of the machines. 

In the installation of flash pasteurizers the directions for 
the same, which accompany the machines, should be carefully 




Figr. 24. Simplex regeneration pasteurizer 

Courtesy D. H. Burrell & Co. 



Pasteurization 



189 



followed. The cream connections, especially those for the heat- 
ed cream, should be of such type as to reduce the friction of 
the cream and consequently the mutilation of the fat globules, 
to the minimum. Sharp bends should be eliminated as much 
as possible, and where they are unavoidable, they should be 
equipped with rounded sanitary couplings in preference to T's 




Pigr. 25 Pig-. 26 

Jensen universal pasteurizer 

Courtesy Jensen Creamery Machinery Co. 

and crosses. The entire system should be composed of stand- 
ard sanitary pipes, valves and fittings. The straight pipes 
should be equipped with sanitary unions at intervals of 6 to 8 
feet, so as to facilitate their dissembling, cleaning and reas- 
sembling. 

Operation of Flash Pasteurizers. — In the case of sweet 
cream, such as is available in wholemilk creameries, the cream 
needs no special preparation for pasteurization. It is run through 
the pasteurizer direct from the receiving vat. 

When cream arrives at the creamery in thick, lumpy or 
sour condition or is otherwise in unsatisfactory physical con- 
dition, as is the case in many of the gathered cream creameries, 
it is not only desirable but very necessary to warm it to about 
90 degrees F. and agitate it until it is uniform in consistency 
and reasonably smooth. This is best done by the use of a 
forewarmer. The usual type of forewarmer is a plain, tinned gal- 



190 



Pasteurization 



vanized iron or tinned copper vat equipped with a revolving 
copper coil or disc, through which hot water is circulated to 
raise the temperature of the cream. The forewarmer should be 
preferably of "low-down" construction so as to facilitate the 
"dumping" of the cans. 

If the cream consists of part sweet and part sour cream or 
if the acidity of different lots of cream in the forewarmer differs 
materially, it is advisable to hold it in the forewarmer for about 
thirty minutes or longer, to make the entire batch uniform in 
acidity. If this is not done a tough, rubbery curd is prone to 
form in the pasteurizer, which clogs the machine and the strain- 
ers and causes excessive loss of fat in the buttermilk. 

The formation of this curd is due to the fact that the acid 
in the sour cream acts intensely on the curd in the less sour 
or sweet cream in the presence of pasteurizing heat. This can 
be avoided by holding the mixed cream in the forewarmer long 
enough to allow the acid in the sour cream to act on the curd 
in the sweet cream at about 90 degrees P. At this temperature 
this action is less intense and the curd precipitates in the usual 
and normal way. 




Tig. 27. 7arring-ton Junior pasteurizer 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 



Pasteurization 191 

If the mixed cream is neutralized in the forewarmer, as is 
done in most creameries receiving sour cream, the danger of 
abnormal curd formation is removed, and it is not necessary to 
hold the cream in the forewarmer after neutralization. In case 
the cream is neutralized it is desirable to use two or more fore- 
warmers of suitable capacity, usually holding 250 to 300 gal- 
lons, so that, while one forewarmer is being filled, the cream 
in the other may be neutralized and passed through the pasteur- 
izer. The use of numerous forewarmers has the advantage of 
speeding up the work, increasing the capacity of the plant and 
assisting the continuity of operation of the pasteurizer. 

Thin, sour cream is prone to sufifer more intense curdling 
action, to cause more difficulty in the pasteurizer and to produce 
greater loss of fat in the buttermilk, than cream of reason- 
able richness, testing 30 to 35 per cent fat, and averaging about 
33 per cent fat. Excessively rich cream, while desirable from 
the standpoint of economizing vat and churn space, is objection- 
able, because it is deficient in milk solids not fat, which are 
necessary to protect the fat globules against mutilation in the 
pasteurizer. Such cream, when pasteurized is apt to yield but- 
ter with a greasy or salvy body and an oily flavor, which may 
later develop into other and more damaging ofif-flavors, such as 
metallic and fishy flavor. 

It is advisable to standardize all cream in the forewarmer 
for fat to about 33 per cent fat, and for acid to about .25 per 
cent acid. Dilution of the cream with water, such as occurs 
when the cream cans and the vats are rinsed with water, or 
when the standardizing of rich cream is done with water, 
should be avoided, because such dilution lowers the per cent 
of non-fatty constituents in the cream. The cans should be 
freed from the remnants of cream by inverting them over a 
steam jet, (see paragraph on Can Washing, Chapter IV,) and the 
standardizing of rich cream for fat should be done with sweet 
milk or skim milk or redissolved skim milk powder. For stand- 
ardizing the acidity, see Chapter VII on Neutralization of Sour 
Cream. 

The flash pasteurizer should be set high enough to make 
unnecessary excessive elevation of the cream by the pasteur- 
izer. The greater the elevation to which the pasteurizer must 



192 Pasteurization 

raise the cream, the faster must be the speed of the pasteur- 
izer. This high speed tends to cause the Hquid fat globules 
at the high pasteurizing temperature to become distorted, dis- 
turbing the thin surface layer of adsorbed concentrated serum, 
which protects them, and exposing a larger surface of the fat 
to objectionable influences, such as the oxidizing action of 
light, air, heat and metals. Excessive speed therefore may, 
under certain conditions, result in serious butter defects. 

For the same reason it is undesirable also to try to force 
more cream through the pasteurizer than its rated capacity. 
The amount of cream the pasteurizer is capable of taking care 
of depends on the speed of the agitator. The higher the speed 
of the agitator the more cream can be made to pass through 
the machine in a given length of time. The flash pasteurizers 
are usually furnished with specific directions as to capacity per 
hour and speed of agitator or revolving drum, needed to yield 
the rated capacity. It is unwise to force more cream through 
the machine than the rated capacity and speed call for, by 
speeding up the agitator. If faster work is desired, the instal- 
lation of a larger machine, or an additional machine, will 
accomplish the purpose without injury to the butter fat. Forc- 
ing the machine, aside from its unfavorable effect on the fat 
globules, also usually diminishes the pasteurizing efficiency. 

Temperature Control. — In all flash or continuous pasteur- 
izers the regulation of the temperature needs constant atten- 
tion in order to make possible uniform heating of all the 
cream that flows through the pasteurizer. Unless the operator 
supervises the operation of the pasteurizer from start to 
finish, reliable results need not and should not be expected. 
The ease of temperature control varies widely with different 
makes of machines, as well as with such ever-varying factors 
as temperature of the cream in the forewarmer, mechanical con- 
dition of the cream, uniformity of cream inflow, uniformity of 
steam supply and uniformity of speed of cream pump and 
pasteurizer. 

In order to make possible and to facilitate temperature con- 
trol, the cream in the forewarmer must have a constant tem^ 
perature, preferably about 90 degrees F., the cream pump feed- 



Pasteurization 



193 



ing the pasteurizer must run at a uniform speed, the cream 
supply pipe must be equipped with a suitable valve regulat- 
ing the inflow, preferably an automatic regulator such as a float- 
ing ball device, the steam pressure must be uniform and the 
pasteurizer must run at a uniform speed. In order to make 
possible a uniform supply of cream, the cream must also be in 
satisfactory mechanical condition, it must have a smooth body. 



An Au+oma+ic Sys'l'eTr) 0/ 
Temperaiure Con+rol 




Fig*. 28. Automatic temperature control 

Courtesy C. J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co. 

Lumpy cream makes the flow irregular, tending to clog the 
valve at times. 

The installation and use of a properly operating thermo- 
stat or heat controller is a great help in, and is practically in- 
dispensable for regulating the steam pressure and thereby con- 
trolling the temperature of the cream. All pasteurizers should 
be equipped with a high-grade steam gauge, installed between 
the steam valve and the pasteurizer, and in the absence of a 
thermostat, a pop-off valve, set for the steam pressure de- 
sired, should be fitted in the steam pipe, between the valve and 



194 Pasti;urization 

the pasteurizer. This will guard against excessive heating 
and excessive steam pressure, which might jeopardize the 
machine. 

At the beginning of the pasteurizing process some cream is 
almost sure to pass through the pasteurizer at a temperature 
lower than that required. If the system of pasteurization prac- 
ticed, involves the running of the hot cream direct into the vat 
where it is held for some time, before it is cooled, all the cream 
has a chance to become heated to the proper temperature and no 
material decline in the germ-killing efficiency of such pasteur- 
ization is likely to occur, even if a small portion of the cream did 
pass through the pasteurizer at too low a temperature. 

But if, as is usually the case, the cream passes from the 
pasteurizer over an instantaneous cooler and reaches the vat 
cool, then the escape from the pasteurizer of incompletely 
heated cream becomes a serious menace to the quality of the 
resulting butter. This danger can readily be avoided by instal- 
ling, between the pasteurizer and the cooler, a by-pass, through 
which the first cream pasteurized and any other portion of the 
cream that fails to be heated to the desired temperature, can 
be automatically returned to the pasteurizer and run through 
again; When the pasteurizer is first started up, therefore, 
all cream should be by-passed until the desired temperature 
is reached and is permanently maintained. 

Automatic Temperature Recorders. — 'The installation and 
Use of an automatic temperature recorder is of additional, 
valuable helf) to insure reliable temperature control. By its 
use a permanent record is produced which shows the exact 
temperature of pasteurization during the entire process. The 
superintendent in charge should examine these records daily, 
and caution the operator when the records disclose irregular- 
ities. The knowledge on the part of the operator that his 
work is thus permanently recorded and the records checked 
daily, exerts a good moral effect on the operator. He realizes, 
that unless he performs his duty properly, the record is unsatis- 
factory and that carelessness is thus immediately detected. 

Cooling Cream from Flash Pasteurizer, — The hot cream 
flowing from the pasteurizer is either passed over a surface 
coil cooler, regenerative or otherwise, or through an internal 



Pasteurization 



195 



tube cooler, a disc continuous cooler, an inclosed drum 
cooler, or a combination of two or more of these devices, 
or it flows direct into a ripening vat where the cooling is 
done with a revolving coil or disc. It is advisable to cool 





FisT- 29. Surface coil cooler 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co. 



Figr. 30. Jensen regfenerative cooler 

Courtesy Jensen Cry. Mach. Co. 



the cream as quickly as possible to about 70 degrees F. or below. 
In most creameries this can be accomplished by the use of the 
available water and further cooling to the churning temperature 
is done with brine. 

Surface coolers have the advantage of speed in reducing the 
temperature and of freely permitting the gases in the cream to 
escape. This is especially desirable in the case of cream tainted 



196 



Paste;urization 



with objectionable flavors and odors, such as may be derived 
from weeds, wild onions, etc., or from undesirable fermentations 
of the cream prior to pasteurization. 

On the other hand, there are some serious objections to the 
use of surface coolers. There is a tendency to recontaminate the 
cream. This is especially the case in an ill-ventilated factory 
where the air is teeming with undesirable germ life and odors. 
Again the exposure of the hot cream to air and light, while run- 
ning over the copper surface cooler, invites oxidation of some of 
the components of the cream which may lead to serious butter 
defects, such as tallowy, metallic or fishy flavor, etc. For this 
reason this type of cooler cannot be recommended ; coolers which 
do not expose the hot cream excessively to air and light are 
preferable. 

VAT PASTEURIZATION 

Vat Pasteurizers. — The vat pasteurizers on the market are 
of two general types, namely jacketed vats with plain agitators 
and non-jacketed vats with hollow disc or coil agitators. In 
the jacketed vats and tanks, with plain agitators the inside 
wall of the jacket surrounding the vat furnishes the heating 
surface. The jacket is charged with a continuous flow of the 
heating or cooling- medium, or the heating or cooling medium 
is sprayed against the outside of the heating surface. The cream 




Fig-. 31. Frogrress vat pasteurizer 

Courtesy Davis- W^atkins Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 



Pasteurization 



197 



is ag^itated by means of a series of blades moving lengthwise 
back and forth, or in the case of round tanks by a vertical, 
rotating agitator. 

The other type of vat pasteurizers consists of the most 
modern types of cream ripeners equipped with horizontal or verti- 
cal revolving discs or coils which carry both the heating and the 
cooling medium. This is the most widely used type of vat pas- 
teurizer. The revolving discs have now been largely replaced 
by the revolving coils, as the strain of steam, water and brine 
pressure and the wide range of temperature proved too great 
a tax on the discs. 




Pig*. 32. Jensen vat pasteurizer 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co. 

The coils in the vat pasteurizers vary somewhat in con- 
struction, principle of feed and size, with different makes of 
manufacture. 

In some vats of large size there are two coils side by side. 
This makes possible the placing of the coils low down without 
curtailing heating surface. This principle has the advantage 
of keeping the coils submerged in the cream, which is desirable, 
because it minimizes the beating of air into the cream, thereby 
avoiding foaming and the tendency of oxidation of some of the 
constituents of the cream, while the cream is hot. 

Most of the coils have a tube diameter of from two to two 
and one-half inches and the diameter of the spiral ranges from 
twenty-four to twenty-nine inches. 

The amovmt of heating and cooling surface per gallon of 
cream varies with different makes and sizes of vats. In many 



198 Pasteurization 

cases the heating and cooling surface of a 300-gallon vat is 
practically the same as that of a 6(X)-gallon vat, because the same 
size coil is used in different size vats. Generally speaking, large 
vats have less heating surface per gallon of cream than small 
vats. For efficient and reasonably rapid heating and cooling a 
vat should have not less than about twenty square inches of 
heating surface per gallon of cream. 

The great majority of the coils and outer shafts are con- 
structed of copper, tinned over and the lining of the vats is of 
the same construction. In some rare cases vat pasteurizers have 
been equipped with German silver coils. 

The inner shafts in the older vats were made of iron. This 
caused them to corrode rapidly and give much annoyance due to 
electrolytic action of two metals in brine. This objection has 
now been largely removed by either doing away with the inner 
shaft entirely or lining it with copper. 

The exposure of the coils and vat linings to heat, cold, acid, 
and neutralizers is exceedingly hard on the tin coating. The 
tin coating soon yields to these corrosive agents and wears ofif. 
This is especially true where the vats are not thoroughly cleaned 
and freed from lime, cream and alkali washing powder, or when 
wire dish cloths or other similar scouring equipment is used 
for cleaning. Caustic alkalies should not be used for washing 
the vats and the vats should be thoroughly rinsed out with 
water after cleaning', and drained and steamed so that they dry 
quickly. If alkaline washing powder is used, it should not be 
sprinkled over coil, vat lining and cover lining and allowed to 
remain there dry. Even the smallest specks of dry and moist 
washing powders quickly attack the tinned copper surface, caus- 
ing the surface to become covered with black spots and blotches. 
And any alkali deposited in the bottom of the vats will inevit- 
ably tarnish the lining, and expose the copper. The washing 
powder should be placed into the water in the vat where it dis- 
solves quickly and completely and in which form it can be re- 
moved completely at the conclusion of the cleansing operation. 

The copper lining of the pasteurizing vats and covers is ob- 
jectionable at best, for the reasons discussed under construction 
of cream ripening vats, and here, too. the use of glass- 



Pasteurization 



199 



enameled equipment, instead of copper-lined vats, would greatly 
reduce the effect of agencies that make for butter deterioration. 
As long as copper-lined pasteurizing vats are and must be used, 
the danger of the injurious effect of the copper and its salts, on 
the quality of cream and butter, may be materially minimized by 
holding the cream in these vats for the shortest possible time 
only, consistent with adequate chilling of the fat preparatory 





Tig. 33 FifiT. 34 

Jensen circular vat pasteurizer with suspended coil 

Courtesy Jensen Cry. Mach. Co. 

to churning. The holding of cream in these vats over night can- 
not be recommended. At certain seasons of the year it is al- 
most sure to cause metallic and other off-flavors in butter. If 
the cream cannot be churned the same day it is "dumped" and 
pasteurized, it would be preferable, from the standpoint of 
quality, to hold it over night in the cans set in the cooler. 

Construction of Covers. — The construction of the covers of 
these vats is also of great importance. The covers should be 
lined with tinned copper on the under side and the lining should 
lap over and up on the upper side of the cover so as to avoid 



200 PASTIiURIZATlON 

cream from seeping' in between the liner and the wood of the 
cover, causing the latter to become a serious source of con- 
tamination of the cream. Some of the most modern vat covers 
are enveloped entirely in tinned copper and are proving highly 
satisfactory from the sanitary standpoint. 

Connections for and the Circulation of the Heating and Cool- 
ing Medium. — ^There are two principle systems which serve to 
circulate the heating and cooling medium, the hot and cold water 
and the brine, through the revolving coils in the pasteurizing 
vats, namely the self-circulating system and the positive circulat- 
ing system. 

The self-circulating system operates on the principle that 
air is lighter than water. It consists of admitting to the coil, 
a small amount of air through an automatic air vent, installed 
at the head of the coil shaft. As the air and water, or brine, 
enter the coil, the air rises to the surface in the coil. If enough 
air enters so that the surface of the water in the coil is below 
the under side of the coil wall at its highest point, the air in 
the top portion of the coil forms a solid plug, or partition, be- 
tween the water columns in the left and right side of the coil. 
When the coil revolves, this partition of air prevents the water 
in the coil from staying or flowing back. The coil being a 
spiral, causes the air plug to push the water column forward 
with each revolution of the coil. This inevitably produces a 
vacuum and suction behind the air plug and this suction draws 
in more water and air, the operation thus repeating itself with 
every turn of the coil. 

In the positive system of circulation the heating and cool- 
ing medium are forced through the revolving coil by a pump. 
In this system there is no air in the coil, the water fills the 
entire coil. 

For heating, the coils should be fed with hot water only. 
They should not be charged with steam, as the agitation of the 
cream in the vat, is not sufficient to prevent excessive burn- 
ing of the cream on the surface of the steam heating coil, and 
direct steam is also exceedingly destructive to the packing in 



Paste;urization 201 

the glands, if not to the bearings themselves. In the case of 
the self-circulating system the water is heated in one of the 
following three ways : 

Steam is blown into the water entering the shaft, through a 
steam jet located at the front end of the vat. This is the most 
objectionable manner of heating, usually causing the coil to be- 
come excessively coated with burnt cream and making it exceed- 
ingly hard to clean. In this method free steam is bound to 
occasionally blow into and through the coil. 

Again, the water in some of the vats is heated by means of a 
water heater of the McDaniels or Penberthy type, installed at 
the back end of the pipe which returns the exhaust of the coil 
to the head of the coil. This method gives the steam a some- 
what better opportunity to be completely absorbed by the water, 
but even in this case there is a spasmodic blowing of the steam 
through the coil at times. 

In the third method of heating, a water heater is installed 
in the ice-box at the rear end of the vat, all the water is heated 
in the ice-box and from here, the hot water returns to the head 
of the coil through the return pipe located under the vat. This 
method precludes the blowing of steam through the coil and is, 
from this point of view, the most satisfactory manner of heating 
the water with the self-circulating system. By this method, how- 
ever, the cream is not heated quite as rapidly as when the steam 
is injected into the water in the return pipe or at the head of 
the coil. 

In the positive circulating system, a separate tank is pro- 
vided in which the water is heated with direct steam to the 
desired temperature, from which it is pumped with a centrifugal 
pump, attached to the tank, through the coil, and to which the 
exhaust water of the coil returns. In this method the coil is 
completely filled with the hot water. It is obviously a very 
reliable and rapid method of heating, but necessitates extra 
equipment and additional space. 

The cooling is done in a similar manner as the heating, the 
same system serving both. It is customary to use water for 
the first cooling, lowering^ the temperature to about 70° F. and 
then finish the cooling with brine or ice water. If ice water is 



202 Pasti^urization 

used, the ice box in the rear of the vat, or the separate tank of 
the positive system, serves to dissolve the ice and the ice water 
is circulated in a similar manner as the hot water. Water and 
brine usually enter the coil under pressure, in which case they 
circulate on the principle of the positive circulating system. The 
water exhausts into the sewer and the brine is pumped back into 
brine tank above or returns to the brine tank by gravity if the 
latter is located in the basement. In order to avoid excessive 
weakening of the brine by the water remaining in the coil, it is 
advisable to not only give the coil as many turns as there are 
rungs in the spiral after the water is shut oflf, and before the 
brine is turned on, but to allow the exhaust of the coil to run 
off, after the brine has been turned on until the exhaust begins 
to taste briny. 

Steam, water und brine connections should be at least of 
equal size as the inlet to the vat. If they have to be brought 
from a considerable distance it is recommended that they be 
at least one pipe-size larger than the vat inlet. The pressure 
on the disc machines should not exceed 5 to 10 lbs. and that 
on the coil machines about 35 pounds per square inch. 

Operation of Vat Pasteurizer. — The use of a forewarmer be- 
fore the cream reaches the vat pasteurizer is not so essential in 
the holding process of pasteurization as in the flash process. 
The standardization of cream for acid and for fat may be, and is 
often done in the pasteurizing vat. However, the forewarmer 
is a convenient dumping vat and is used in most creameries in 
connection with either vat or flash pasteurization. 

If the creani is sour, or part sweet and part sour, it is 
advisable to raise the temperature in the vat pasteurizer slowly 
to about 115 degrees F. and then rapidly to 145 degrees F. in 
order to avoid abnormal curdling. In extreme cases of curdling 
difficulties it may even be necessary to hold the cream at about 
115 degrees F. for a while. This sIoav heating below 125 de- 
grees F. gives the curd an opportunity to contract and harden 
in the usual way, so that when the higher temperature is reached, 
the formation of a rubbery and sticky curd and loss of fat as the 
result of intense action of heat and acid on the soft casein, is 



Pasteurization 203 

avoided. The tendency of abnormal curdling- is especially pro- 
nounced in the case of cream very low in butterfat. 

In the case of sweet cream, or sour cream neutralized to 
about .25 per cent acid, there is no danger of the formation of 
an abnormal curd. The neutralizer should be added after all 
the cream of one batch is in the vat pasteurizer and before the 
heat is turned on. The neutralizer should be distributed uni- 
formly throughout the cream in the vat while the coil is revolv- 
ing. If sweet milk is added to the cream it should be added im- 
mediately after neutralization and before pasteurization. 

Speed of Revolving Coil.— The coil in the vat pasteurizer 
should be run at the speed indicated in the directions furnished 
by the manufacturer of the vat. The exact speed desired varies 
with the size of the vat and the size of the coil, ranging from 
about 25 to 40 revolutions per minute. The higher speed ap- 
plies to the smaller coils and the lower speed to the larger 
coils. A coil with a 24 inch diameter should revolve about 35 
to 40 revolutions per minute, while a coil with a 29 inch diam- 
eter should make about 28 to 30 revolutions per minute. 

Insufficient speed of the coij fails to produce adequate agita- 
tion which in turn makes the control of the temperature difficult, 
retards the heating and cooling and may augment the coating 
of the coil with cooked cream. 

Too high a speed of the coil causes excessive foaming of 
the cream and the beating of air into it. The foaming is 
objectionable because it renders difficult the emptying of 
the vat without the use of excessive volumes of water and usual- 
ly incurs excessive loss of fat. The beating of air into the cream 
is undesirable because the incorporated air invites oxidation 
which later may lead to butter defects. 

Fullness of Vat Pasteurizer. — The best results are obtained 
when the vat is full enough to completely submerge the revolv- 
ing coil in the cream. The heating and cooling proceeds faster 
when the coil is submerged than when part of it projects above 
the cream, because with a submerged coil the entire coil is active 
at all times while, in the case of an exposed coil only part of 
the coil does duty. The portion of the coil that is exposed to 



204 Pasteurization 

the air is more apt to become coated with cooked cream than 
the submerged coil. A submerged coil precludes all danger of 
excessive foaming and of whipping air into the cream, while 
an exposed coil is bound to incorporate air in the cream and 
the more the coil projects above the cream the more pronounced 
is this objection. An exposed coil also invariably causes much 
splashing of the cream, which is objectionable. 

Because of the objection of operating the vat with the coil 
projecting above the cream, vat pasteurizers in which the coils 
are set low are preferable to those in which the coils extend to 
the top of the vat. 

For this same reason vat pasteurizers of cylindrical shape 
and with a vertical, suspended coil are superior to vats with 
horizontal coils. In the cylindrical vat the motion of the coil 
spiral is upward, and out of the cream, making impossible the 
mixing of air with the cream, while in the vat with the horizontal 
coil the spiral of the coil moves downward into the cream. 

Temperature and Time of Exposure. — The heating should 
be done as rapidly as the supply of steam, the available heating 
surface and the circulating system permit. The cream should 
be heated to 145 degrees F., and held at that temperature at 
least twenty and preferably thirty minutes. 

Slow heating and prolonged holding at 145 degrees F. are 
prone to produce cream and butter with a mealy body. Under 
proper conditions the heating of the cream to 145 degrees F. 
should not occupy more than about fifteen to twenty minutes. 

Experimental^ results have shown that when holding the 
cream at 145 degrees F. for a shorter time than twenty minutes, 
the germ-killing efficiency suffers. This is clearly demonstrated 
in Table 36. 

As soon as the temperature has reached 145 degrees F. a 
pail full of the hot cream should be drawn from the gate of the 
vat and poured back into the vat. The nipple at the gate con- 



^ Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Pasteurization of Cream for Buttermaking, 
Purdue Bulletin, No. 203, 1917. 



Pasteurization 



205 



Table 36. — Per Cent Micro-Organisms destroyed when Heated to 
145° F. for 10, 15, 20, 30 and 40 Minutes, Respectively. 

(Averages 'of 21 churnings.) 



Time Held 


Per Cent Decrease of Germs Due to Pasteurization 


at 
145° F. 


Total 
Bacteria 


Acid- 
ifiers 


Lique- 

fiers 


Yeast and 
Molds 


10 minutes 


99.39 


99.29 


98.79 


87.50 


15 minutes 


99.89 


99.94 


99.72 


99.18 


20 minutes 


99.98 


99.98 


99.95 


99.93 


30 minutes 


99.99 


99.999 


99.98 


99.94 


40 minutes 


99.999 


99.999 


99.99 


99.98 



tains a plug of raw cream which fails to be heated properly and 
which tends to recontaminate the cream in the churn. 

Blowing- air into the cream, during the process of heating 
is not recommended, except in the case of very poor cream 
tainted with objectionable strong odors and flavors. 'This kind 
of cream is often considerably improved by blowing, eliminat- 
ing some of the objectionable odors, but butter from such cream 
will at best be of low grade. 

Blowing air into cream of fair or good quality is objection- 
able because the air, in the presence of heat invites oxidation and 
jeopardizes the keeping quality of the resulting butter. The 
blowing of the cream during pasteurization is undesirable also 
because butter made from such cream is prone to have a mealy 
body. This is largely due to the fact that the blowing retards 
and prolongs the heating process, hardening the curd particles 
to such an extent as to render them mealy. The prolongation 
of the heating process as the result- of blowing air into the 
cream is due to the cooling effect of air on the cream and the 
increased evaporation of moisture which absorbs additional heat 
units. 

It is advisable to revolve the coil while the cream is being 
held at 145 degrees F. in order to guard against the tendency of 



206 Pasteurization 

the hot cream to "oil off," causing the fat to become granular 
during subsequent cooling and giving the butter a mealy body 
similar to that of renovated butter. 

In order to avoid appreciable lowering of the temperature 
of the cream, with the coil revolving during the holding process, 
the covers should be down. It is customary to empty the coil 
as soon as the temperature has risen to 145 degrees F. in order 
to avoid overheating and mealiness. When conditions are prone 
to produce mealiness, a rise of a very few degrees above 145 
degrees F. may cause this defect. Under such conditions it may 
even be advisable to turn the steam off when a temperature of 
140 degrees F. has been reached, then pull the cover down and 
hold for 32 minutes, leaving the hot water in the revolving 
coil. Experience has shown that with the hot water in the coil at 
the usual temperature at this stage of the process, there is suffi- 
cient heat present to raise the temperature of the cream to 145 
degrees F. in one or two minutes, but not enough heat to cause 
the temperature to rise above 145 degrees F. during the holding 
process. 

Cooling the Cream in the Vat Pasteurizer. — After the cream 
has been held at 145 degrees F. for 20 to 30 minutes, it should 
be cooled as promptly as facilities permit. In order to economize 
cold, the cream is best cooled with water to about 70 degrees F. 
and then with brine or ice water to the churning temperature. 
If starter is used it may be added when the temperature has 
reached about 70 degrees F. For butter that is not consumed 
promptly it is recommended to not add the starter until about 
five minutes before churning. If it is not intended to ripen the 
cream, it should at once be cooled to the churning temperature 
and held there for not less than two to three hours. Durine 
the cooling process the cover of the vat should be down. When 
emptying the vat it should be rinsed down to reclaim the butter- 
fat contained in the cream that does not automatically run out. 
This rinsing should be done with the minimum amount of water 
that will do the work, or preferably with skim milk. The ex- 
cessive dilution of the cream with water is very objectionable 
because it diminishes the power of the milk solids to protect the 



Pasteurization 



207 



fat globules against mutilation during the churning process and 
tends to give the butter a poor body, susceptible to the develop- 
ment of serious butter defects. 

Temperature Control in Vat Pasteurization. — Vat pasteuri- 
zation offers greater facilities for temperature control, because 
of the larger volume of cream simultaneously heated than is 
the case with flash pasteurization. Nevertheless the process, if 
it is to be dependable and successful, requires the constant at- 
tention of the operator. The installation and use of a tem- 
perature recorder in this process, too, is a great help in order 
to insure accurate work. 

Flash and Holding Pasteurization Combined. — In some in- 
stances the two systems of pasteurization are combined, the 
cream being heated in the flash pasteurizer and held in the vat. 
For this purpose anyone of the flash pasteurizers above referred 
to may be used. The cream is run through the flash pasteurizer 
at 150 degrees to 170 degrees F. From the flash machine it is 
allowed to flow into the vat or retainer where it is held for from 
10 to 30 minutes at the desired temperature and then cooled. 
This method is more generally used in milk plants. Very few 
creameries have adopted it. 




Tig. 35. Progress internal tube pasteurizer, holder and cooler 

Courtesy Davis- Watkins Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 



208 Paste;urization 

With equipment of average capacity, there is no very 
great saving in time by this combination pasteurizing process. 
It requires about as much time to run the cream through the 
flash machine as it does to heat the cream to the desired tem- 
perature in the vat. The extra time needed to fill the vat, how- 
ever, is eliminated, inasmuch as with this system the heating of 
the cream and the filling of the vat are done in one operation. 

The chief advantage of this system lies in the preservation 
of the vat. The cream being neutralized before it reaches the 
vat avoids the corrosive action of the acid on the vat, and the 
heating in the vat being eliminated minimizes further corrosion 
and wear of the tin coating on coil and vat liner ; thereby render- 
ing the cleaning of the vat easier. The bearings and stuffing boxes 
in the vat are also saved from heavy wear caused by expansion 
incident to heating in the vat. 

In some cases where the combined flash and holding pasteuri- 
zation is in operation, the holding of the hot cream is done in 
a compartment retarder in which it is held for the desired length 
of time and from which it finally reaches the vat where it is 
cooled. One objection to this system lies in the obvious danger 
of recontamination of the cream by flowing into two containers 
after pasteurization. When this system of pasteurizing is used, 
special attention should be given to the proper cleaning and 
steaming of all containers used after pasteurization. 

Cleaning and General Care of Pasteurizers. — On the proper 
cleaning and care of the pasteurizer depend very largely its 
efliciency and its period of usefulness. Remnants of cream, neut- 
ralizer or wash-water containing alkali, have a corrosive action 
on the tin coating and cause this coating to wear ofiF rapidly. 
The use of tools that scratch the metal, such as wire dish cloths, 
sand and emery paper, metal bristle brushes, etc., cannot be 
too strongly condemned. Washing powders containing free 
caustic substances, such as soda or potash lye, attack the metal 
and should not be used. Dry or concentrated alkali of any 
kind should not be allowed to remain on the tinned surface of 
coils and vat. It is best to use only dilute solutions and rinse 
off all traces of alkali after washing. 



Pasteurization 209 

If the pasteurizer is in poor condition, rusty, or with the tin 
worn off and the exposed copper unclean and coated with ver- 
digris, etc., the damage done to the cream and butter may be 
far greater than the possible benefits of pasteurization. The 
direct exposure of the cream to iron and copper and their salts 
tends to give the finished product a disagreeable metallic flavor. 
The acid in the cream enters into chemical combination with 
such metals as iron and copper, forming metallic salts, such 
as iron lactate and copper lactate. These salts have the power 
to accelerate bacterial action in butter and also to stimulate 
oxidation and decomposition of its ingredients. In the presence 
of pasteurizing heat this chemical action is intensified. The 
action of these metallic salts is made more damaging by the 
fact that they possess catalytic properties, that is they continue 
to act, changing the substances (fats, curd, etc.) with which 
they come in contact, without they, themselves, (the salts) being 
changed or weakened. Metallic salts have been found to con- 
stitute important members of the combination of conditions 
that produce butter with metallic, tallowy, fishy, and other 
flavor defects. 

Immediately after use the pasteurizer should be rinsed out 
with water. In the case of the flash machine the water can be 
pumped through the pasteurizer immediately following the 
cream. The machine is then opened, the agitator or drum care- 
fully removed and all parts are scrubbed with brush and hot 
water containing non-caustic washing powder. Some operators 
prefer to fill the flash pasteurizer with alkali solution, allow it 
to soak over night and then complete the cleansing the follow- 
ing morning. It has also been found that the coating on the 
heating surface of flash machines can be readily removed by 
charging the jacket with steam, after the pasteurizer has first 
been rinsed with water. This heating causes the coating to 
dry, contract and peal off, facilitating its removal. 

The vats are best filled one-third to one-half full with 
hot water containing non-caustic washing powder and the sides, 
bottom, coil, shaft and gate are scrubbed with a good brush until 
all remnants of cream are removed. If the vat pasteurizer has 
been operated in the proper manner, avoiding the blowing of 
steam direct into the coil, there is little danger of a coating of 



210 Pasteurization 

burnt cream on the coil. If the coil has become so coated it is 
very difficult to thoroughly cleanse it at best. The secret of 
easy and proper cleaning therefore lies in the proper operation 
of the pasteurizing process. 

After the remnants of cream are removed, the pasteurizer 
should be rinsed out thoroughly with hot water, freeing it from 
all traces of alkali. Then it should be thoroughly steamed until 
"piping" hot, leaving the gate open to allow the condensed 
steam to pass ofif. After steaming, the vat cover should be raised 
so as to insure prompt drying of all parts of the machine. If the 
vat is so installed as to cause its bottom to slope about If inches 
to 2 inches for every ten feet, the water will drain out readily 
and there is no danger of water remaining in the trough of the 
vat. Immediately before use the next day the pasteurizer 
should again be flushed and steamed out before the cream 
enters it. 

Stuffing boxes should not be allowed to leak cream, water, 
brine, or steam. Glands should be carefully tightened until 
leaks are stopped. Packing should be renewed as often as 
is necessary to keep the glands from leaking. Avoid the use of 
impure calcium brine. Calcium brine containing magnesium 
chloride causes rapid corrosion of the iron parts of the circulat- 
ing system, which intensifies the danger of generating elec- 
trolysis. This is damaging to the machine and injurious to 
the cream. 

All pumps, cream conduits and strainers should receive 
daily cleaning and steaming so as to prevent them from be- 
coming dangerous sources of contamination. 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Continuous and Vat 
Pasteurization. 

General Practicability. — Taking into consideration all con- 
ditions, such as irregularities of delivery of cream, condition of 
cream, average intelligence of operator and simplicity of opera- 
tion, the vat method of pasteurization appears the most practical. 
This applies especially to conditions as they prevail in the 
average small creamery. When the daily cream receipts are 
limited and the shipments or deliveries happen to arrive at ir- 
regular times of the day, it is difficult to use the continuous pas- 
teurizer to advantage. When this machine is once started it is 



Pasteurization 211 

desirable to continue its operation. In the case of vat pasteuri- 
zation this objection is largely eliminated. The usually limited 
knowledge of the preparation of cream for pasteurization on the 
part of the average operator in the small, local creamery renders 
the successful operation of the continuous machine often dif- 
ficult. The high temperatures employed in flash pasteurization 
intensify the usual difficulties, such as abnormal curdling, etc., 
which are encountered with cream of varying quality, acidity and 
richness. The vat pasteurizer with its lower temperature facili- 
tates the handling of cream in this respect. The simplicity of the 
vat pasteurizer and the ease of operation are in its favor under 
the conditions of the small creamery. 

Capacity. — For heavy duty and maximum capacity the flash 
or continuous process excels. In the flash process the heating 
and cooling is practically instantaneous and requires little time 
additional to that needed for filling the vat with the cream, 
while in the vat process, after the vat is filled, the heating, hold- 
ing and cooling require from one and one-half to two hours for 
each vat full of cream. When a small amount of cream is 
handled this delay may not be so great a factor. But in a 
creamery manufacturing large quantities of butter daily, the 
speed of operation is an essential factor. In fact, the limited 
capacity of the plant may demand this extra speed in order to 
increase the working capacity of the plant and make possible 
the handling of all the cream received during the flush of the 
season. 

Durability of Equipment. — Originally the vat with agitating 
coil was intended only for control of the temperature of the 
cream, during ripening and cooling. It was not intended for 
pasteurization of the cream. The wide range of temperature 
between the heating and cooling medium and the operation of 
the heating and cooling itself places an extremely heavy tax 
on the vat pasteurizer, and the exposure of the coil and liner 
to high acid in the cream and to the netitralizer, augment the 
wear and corrosion of the machine. 

Especially where used for heavy duty, as is the case in 
many creameries during the flush of the season, when the vats 
are refilled with batch after batch of cream, practically day and 



212 Pasteurization 

night, the wear and tear on the vats, is very great and their 
hfe is comparatively short. In order to keep them in acceptable 
condition, frequent retinning and other repairs are necessary and 
even then the vats have to be replaced by new ones every five 
to six years. , 

The flash pasteurizer, on the other hand, is built to with- 
stand the heat of pasteurization, it is made, intended and 
used for heating only, and one flash machine performs the heat- 
ing of all the cream received, as against an entire row of vats 
in the case of vat pasteurization in a large creamery. Being 
constructed and operated for but one purpose, that of heating 
the cream, the flash pasteurizer is capable of serving that purpose 
without undue wear and damage. Its chief wear is on the tin 
coating of the heating surface. This heating surface can readily 
be retinned when desired, or it can be used with the copper 
exposed without serious danger of damage to the cream, as 
the exposure of the cream to it is of very short duration only, 
provided that the copper surface is kept clean and bright and 
free from verdigris. Since the heating surface in the flash ma- 
chine is a simple plain surface, easily accessible, it can be kept 
in proper condition without difficulty. 

In the case of the vat pasteurizer, both the coil and the vat 
liner are difficult to clean, some portions are almost inaccessible. 
Hence, when the tin coating is worn off it is very difficult to 
keep the vat in proper sanitary condition and the objectionable 
effect of this condition is greatly intensified by the fact that 
the cream often remains in the vat for several hours. If the 
agitator of the flash machine becomes worn, the defective parts 
can be replaced readily and at small cost, while the expense of 
removing and retinning the coil and liner in the vat is relatively 
great. 

The labor required for cleaning the flash machine is com- 
paratively small. The proper cleaning of vats in which the cream 
was pasteurized requires much time and hard labor. 

Expense of Equipment and Operation. — The initial expense 
of the equipment is decidedly in favor of the vat pasteurizer. 
Since the vat is doing both the heating and the cooling, the 
equipment for vat pasteurization is confined exclusively to the 



EFFECT OT? Pasteurization 213 

vat with revolving coil. In the case of the flash process the 
same type of vat is needed to hold, ripen and cool the cream, 
but in addition to this there must be installed the flash 
pasteurizer and the cooler (unless alj the cooling is done in the 
vat) and there is further need of at least two forewarmers. 
This extra equipment is partly offset by the fact that the flash 
pasteurizer increases the vat capacity, hence fewer vats are 
needed by this system of pasteurization. The upkeep of the 
vats used for pasteurizing is much greater than the upkeep of 
the flash machine as already explained under "Durability." The 
labor needed for operation is very similar with both systems 
except that of cleaning which is greater in the case of vat 
pasteurizers. 

The cost of fuel for heating and cooling is somewhat higher 
in the case of flash pasteurization than in the case of vat pasteuri- 
zation. IVIore heat is required to raise the temperature of the 
cream to 180 degrees F. of flash pasteurization than to 145 de- 
grees F. of vat pasteurization, and the cooling of the hotter, 
flash-heated cream involves the use of correspondingly more 
cooling medium than the cooling of the less hot cream of the 
holding process. 

EFFECT OF PASTEURIZATION ON QUALITY OF 

BUTTER 

Germ-Killing EfBciency. — The germ-killing efficiency of vat 
pasteurization at 145 degrees F. and holding for thirty minutes, 
and flash pasteurization at 180 degrees F. is practically the same. 
When properly operated the two processes destroy over 99 per 
cent of the bacteria, yeast and molds, present in the cream. From 
the standpoint of prevention of bacterial action in butter it 
would seem, therefore, that both processes are equally efficient. 

Effect on Enzymes. — iThe effect of the two processes of 
pasteurization on enzymes present in the cream, both, those 
which are inherent in milk and those which may have developed 
as the result of bacterial action before pasteurization, must of 
necessity be quite dissimilar. Exposure to a temperature of 176 
degrees F. or over is destructive to the activity of most of the 
enzymes naturally present, while at 145 degrees F. enzyme ac- 
tion is not destroyed. 



214 Ep^ff-ct op Pasteurization 

The presence of enzymes in butter capable of splitting 
butter fat and of attacking the curd is most probable, especially 
in the case of butter made from an inferior quality of cream that 
is contaminated with diverse species of bacteria and that is 
several days old. It is reasonable to assume, therefore, that the 
presence of these enzymes in butter, plays an important role in 
the deterioration of butter with age. 

Since vat pasteurization is incapable of destroying the 
activity of these enzymes, this process fails to preserve the 
butter from the point of view of enzyme action. The fiash 
process at 180 degrees F., on the other hand, is destructive to 
the activity of these enzymes and therefore assists in preserv- 
ing the butter. This assumption is supported by experimental 
results conducted at the Purdue Experiment Station,^ which 
show that there is a greater increase in the acid value, soluble 
proteids and amino acids in storage butter made from cream 
pasteurized by vat pasteurization at 145 degrees F. than by flash 
pasteurization at 180 degrees F. 

Effect on Score of Butter. — The same experiments also 
demonstrated that, while the fresh butter made from cream 
pasteurized by the flash process at 180 degrees F. scored no 
higher than, and in the case of sour, unneutralized cream not as 
high as, butter made from cream pasteurized with the vat process, 
the scores of the same butter when 30, 60 and 90 days old 
showed less deterioration in the case of the flash process than 
the vat process of pasteurization. In the case of sour cream 
that was not neutralized, however, the fresh butter of the 
flash process had a very disagreeable, oily flavor, while that of 
the vat process was free from oiliness. For further details 
on the causes of oily flavor, see Chapter XVII on Butter Defects. 

The condition and quality of the cream at the time of 
pasteurization are important factors in the determination of the 
benefits of pasteurization, to the quality of the resulting butter. 
The better the flavor and the lower the acidity of the cream 
before pasteurization, the better will be the flavor of the but- 
ter when fresh and after storage. However, experimental results 
have amply demonstrated, that the butter from both, good and 



* Hunzlker, Mills and Spitzer, Pasteurization of Cream for Buttermaking, 
Purdue Bulletin No. 203, 1917. 



Effect of Pasteurization 215 

poor quality cream, is of better quality and keeps better when 
made from -properly pasteurized cream, than when made from 
raw cream. 

Effect on Texture and Body of Butter — Butter properly made 
from raw cream has a more crisp, live body and open texture 
than butter made from pasteurized cream. The latter is usually 
more compact and tends more towards a salvy consistency. 
Much of the pasteurized-cream butter also has a duller appearance 
and is niore or less mealy in texture. This difference in the body 
and texture was somewhat objected to by the trade in the earlier 
days of pasteurization, but the market has gradually become 
accustomed to the characteristic body of butter made from 
properly pasteurized cream. The extent to which pasteurization 
modifies the body and texture of the butter depends materially 
on the method of pasteurization and of cooling" and on the con- 
dition, per cent of fat and acidity in the cream. 

Flash pasteurization has less eft'ect on the life, clearness 
and" smoothness of the body than the holding process. This 
is especially noticeable in the case of butter made from farm- 
skimmed cream that arrives at the creamery in sour condition, 
even if the cream is neutralized before pasteurization. 

The prolonged exposure to heat in the holding process ap- 
pears to precipitate the casein into very fine and firm particles 
of curd, which seem to rob the butter of its bright lustre and 
which tend to give it a more or less mealy texture. These 
changes are not so pronounced in the case of the flash process 
because the cream is exposed to the heat for a very short time 
only and then is cooled rapidly. Slow heating, prolonged hold- 
ing at 145 degrees F. and slow cooling almost invariably pro- 
duce mealiness in butter. Mealiness is also often caused when 
the cream is allowed to "oil off", either before pasteurization, 
due to improper thawing up of frozen cream, or during the 
pasteurizing process due to allowing the heated cream to lay 
in the vats undisturbed for any considerable length of time. 
Mealiness of this type is caused by the running together of 
the globules while in melted condition and their granulation 
during subsequent cooling. See also Chapter XVII on Mealy 
Butter. 



216 Effect of Pasteurization 

The difference in the method of cooling between flash and 
holding pasteurization is a further reason for the greater tendency 
toward mealiness in the case of vat pasteurization. Slow cooling, 
especially below the melting point of butterfat, invites crystalli- 
zation or granulation of the butterfat. And crystallized butter- 
fat means mealy butter. Slow cooling is often characteristic of 
vat pasteurization. Rapid cooling, such as is usually accomplished 
in flash pasteurization, is antagonistic to crystallization. There 
is solidification but not crystallization of the fat. Hence flash- 
pasteurized cream butter is seldom mealy and usually has a 
more waxy body than much of the vat-pasteurized cream butter. 

In the case of rich cream, cream testing over 35 per cent 
fat, pasteurization tends to produce a salvy butter. This is 
especially prone to happen with flash pasteurizers in which the 
cream is violently agitated at a high speed, as is the case with 
machines that are equipped with a rapidly revolving dasher. 
In rich cream the milk solids which protect the fat globules 
against mutilation are diminished, and in this very fluid and 
expanded condition due to the high heat, the fat globules are 
more sensitive to the excessive friction that results from violent 
agitation. Flash machines in which the cream flows gently 
and in a thin layer between two heated surfaces, and vat pas- 
teurizers, are less prone to mutilate the fat globules and there- 
fore are less objectionable on this point. However, all pasteur- 
izers tend to produce a salvy butter when operated with ex- 
cessively rich cream. The salviness of butter made from rich 
cream is further intensified during the churning process. With 
cream testing from 28 to 33 per cent fat the danger of salviness 
in butter is greatly minimized. 

Effect of Season of Year on Germ-Killing Efficiency of 
Pasteurization. — The resistence of micro- organisms to heat 
varies with the species and types of germs present. The bac- 
terial flora in milk and cream varies considerably with the sea- 
son of the year. As a rule the predominating species in fall 
and winter cream are more resistant to heat than those in 
summer cream. This fact is brought out in the following 
table^ which shows the per cent reduction of germs due to pas- 
teurization of summer cream and of winter cream : 

1 Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills. — The Pasteurization of Cream for Butter- 
making, Purdue Bulletin, No. 203, 1917. 



itl^PRCl' OP PASTTiURIZATlON 



217 



Table 37. — Average Per Cent Decrease of Micro-Organisms in 

Summer and in Winter Cream Due to Pasteurization at 145° F. 

Holding Process, and at 165° F. and 185' F. Flash Process. 



Method of 


Total Count 
Per Cent 
Decrease 


Acidifiers 
Per Cent 
Decrease 


Liquefiers 
Per Cent 
Decrease 


Yeast and 

Molds Per 

Cent Decrease 


Pasteur- 
ization 


Sum- 
mer 
Months 


Win- 
ter 
Months 


Sum- 
mer 
Months 


Win- 
ter 
Months 


Sum- 
mer 
Months 


Win- 
ter 
Months 


Sum- 1 Win- 

mer ter 

Months 1 Months 


145° F. 
holding , . 


99.72 


99.91 


99.97 


99.96 


99.98 


99.97 


99.78 


99.96 


165° F. 
flash 


93.73 


88.25 


94.32 


86.42 


94.61 


86.29 


92.02 


76.63 


185° F. 
flash 


99.82 


98.15 


99.76 


97.97 


99.94 


99.29 


99.16 


97.17 



The figures in table 37 show that when cream is pasteur- 
ized at 145 degrees F. and held at that temperature for at 
least twenty minutes, over 99 per cent of the germs contained 
therein are destroyed regardless of season of year. The flash 
process at 185 degrees F. was slightly less efficient in winter 
than in summer. The flash process at 165 degrees F. was effi- 
cient neither in summer nor in winter, but its germ-killing 
effiiciency was pronouncedly lower in winter than in summer, 
especially as regards the germs known to be most harmful to 
the quality of butter, the liquefying bacteria and the yeast 
and molds. 

These findings demonstrate anew the inadequacy of the 
flash process at 165 degrees F., as a means to free the cream 
and butter from undesirable germs. It further emphasizes the 
need of using either the holding process, or the flash process 
at 180 degrees to 185 degreees F., especially during the winter 
months, in order to insure maximum germ-killing efficiency. 

The phenomenon that fall and winter cream is freed from 
its germ content less readily than summer cream must be 
attributed to the fact that in fall the crops are harvested and 
are brought into the barn. These crops, especially corn silage 
and grain crops, are teeming with various types of resistant 
micro-organisms and when handled in the barn, the dust incident 
to unloading and feeding is charged with these germs, causing 



218 



HTfjfElCT or Pasteurization 



the milk and cream, to become profusely contaminated with 
them through diverse channels, such as the air, the coating of 
the cows, the bedding, the utensils, the milker. 

Additional contamination and possible spore formation re- 
sults from storing the cream in places where these undesirable 
germs are prone to abide, such as poorly ventilated cellars, 
etc., and where the cream is held long before it goes to the 
creamery, as is often the case during the winter season. 

Effect of Pasteurization on Per Cent Fat Lost in Buttermilk. 

— It is the general opinion that sour pasteurized cream does 
not churn out as exhaustively as raw cream, and that butter- 
milk from sour pasteurized cream churnings tends to show a 
relatively high butterfat test. The average per cent fat in the 
buttermilk of 104 churnings made from raw and pasteurized, 
sour cream is shown below.^ 



Table 38. — Per Cent Fat in Buttermilk from Raw Cream and 
from Pasteurized Cream Churnings. 





Range 
of Acidity 
in Cream 

% 


Per Cent Fat in Buttermilk 


Number 


From 

Raw 

Cream 


From Pasteurized Cream 


of 
Churnings 


145° F. 
20 M. 


165° F. 
Flash 


185° F. 
Flash 


104 


.37 to .62 


.101 


.137 


.120 


.120 



The above figures do not show an appreciable difference 
in the exhaustiveness of churning between raw and pasteurized 
cream. While the raw cream buttermilk contained the least 
amount of fat, the pasteurized cream buttermilk contained but 
very little more fat. The difference in the fat content of the butter- 
milk between the three dififerent processes of pasteurization 
used, also is very slight. 

in order to detect the effect of acidity of the cream on 
the per cent fat in the butterm.ilk the 104 churnings were 
grouped into churnings which at the time of pasteurization 
contained .5 per cent acid and above, and churnings which at 
the time of pasteurization contained less than .3 per cent acid. 
These results are averaged in the following table. 



^ Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills. — The Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream for Buttermaking, Purdue Bulletin, No. 203, 1917. 



Effect of Pasteurization 



219 



Table 39. — Showing Effect of Acid in Cream before Pasteuriza- 
tion on Per Cent Fat in Buttermilk. 



Number 


Per Cent Acid 
in Cream Be- 
fore Pasteur- 
ization 


Per Cent Fat 


in Buttermilk 


of 


From 

Raw 

Cream 


From 


Pasteurized 


Cream 


Churn- 
ings 


■ 145° F. 
20 M. 


165° F. 
Flash 


185° F. 
Flash 


44 
60 


less than .5% 
.5% or above 


.100 
.093 


.123 
.160 


.116 
.127 


.104 
.136 



The figures in Table 39 show that the high-acid cream pro- 
duced a somewhat larger loss of fat in the buttermilk from 
the pasteurized cream, than the low-acid cream. The difference 
might have been considerably greater had the range of acidity 
in the different lots of cream been wider. As it was, the cream 
with the least acid, tested .376 per cent acid and the sourest 
cream tested .621 per cent acid. 

The pasteurization of sour cream has a tendency to pro- 
duce a firm, contracted and dry curd. The particles of curd 
lock up a small amount of fat. In this contracted condition 
they fail to surrender the imprisoned fat and carry it into the 
butter milk. This automatically results in a slightly increased 
fat content of the buttermilk. Under normal conditions of 
properly mixed cream of uniform acidity the extra loss of fat 
due to pasteurization is small. 

However, if sweet and sour cream are pasteurized together 
and without proper mixing and holding before pasteurization, 
the loss of fat may be very great. In this case the acid in the 
sour cream acts intensely on the curd in the sweet cream, in 
the presence of the pasteurizing heat. This often causes the 
formation of large lumps of a tough, rubbery and sticky curd. 
This curd locks up relatively large amounts of fat, and, since 
the curd passes into the buttermilk, the loss of fat in the but- 
termilk is excessive. 

This loss can best be avoided by pasteurizing sweet and 
sour cream separately. If sweet cream and sour cream must 
be pasteurized together they should be thoroughly mixed and 
the mixed cream should be given some time before heating 
to pasteurizing temperature. The heating should be done 
slowly below 125 degrees F. and from thereon rapidly. This 



220 



Effect of Pastftjrization 



gives the curd in the sweet cream, an opportunity to be acted 
upon in a normal way by the acid of the sour cream, so that 
the effect of the subsequent high heat is minimized. 

The pasteurization of very thin sour cream usually causes 
excessive loss of fat, unless such cream is churned at an exces- 
sively low temperature. 

Not infrequently, excessive losses of fat in buttermilk 
from pasteurized cream, while attributed to pasteurization, are 
due largely to churning factors, such as churning the pasteur- 
ized cream at too high a temperature, or to not holding the 
cream at the churning temperature long enough. For most 
exhaustive churning the cream should be held at the churning 
temperature not less than two hours and preferably three hours. 
Attempts to crowd the churns with too large churnings, which 
are prone to occur during the flush of the season in summer, 
are a further common cause of excessive loss of fat in the 
buttermilk. 

Chemical Composition of Butter made from Raw and from 
Pasteurized Cream. — The following table^ contains averages of 
the per cent moisture, salt, curd and acid in 76 churnings of fresh 
butter. 

Table 40. — Averages of Composition of 76 Churnings of Butter 
Made from Raw and Pasteurized Cream. 





Raw 
Cream 
Butter 


Butter Mad 


e From Pasteurized Cream 


Composition 
Per Cent 


145° F. 
20 Mill. 


165° F. 
Flash 


185° F. 
Flash 


Moisture 

Salt 

Curd 

Acid 


14.57 

2.05 

.51 

.11 


14.14 

2.42 

.50 

.09 


14.19 

2.40 

.48 

.08 


13.76 

2.24 

.45 

.08 







As indicated in the above figures, there is very little dif- 
ference in composition between butter made from raw and 
from pasteurized cream. The slight differences agree, in direc- 
tion, with the great bulk of data available on this subject and 
with the general conception of the effect of pasteurization on 
the composition of the butter. Thus the moisture, curd and 
acid are somewhat lower in the pasteurized cream butter than 
in the raw cream butter and the highest temperature used for 
pasteurization, shows the greatest difference. 



EE^Fi;c'r oz Pastkurization 221 

The decrease in moisture is in all probability due to the 
more contracted and dry condition of constituents, which in this 
condition tend to diminish their power to hold water. 

The difference in curd content between the raw cream and 
the pasteurized cream butter is very slight. The curd content 
of butter made from sour pasteurized cream is usually from 
.1 to .5 per cent lower than in raw cream butter. The very 
slight difference shown in the table is in all probability due to 
the fact that all the butter was washed thoroughly with two 
washings of water and that the removal of the buttermilk was 
facilitated by the relatively small churnings. 

The acid content of the butter in above table is unusually 
low and this again suggests that the butter was washed thor- 
oughly. Generally butter contains from about .1 to .3 per cent 
acid, as shown in the averages of 44 churnings of sour cream 
tabulated below. 

Table 41. — Acidity of Butter Made from Raw and Pasteurized 
Cream. Averages of 44 Churnings. 



Raw and Pasteurized Cream 



Raw cream 

Cream pasteurized at 145° F. (20 minutes) 

Cream pasteurized at 165° F. flash 

Cream pasteurized at 185° F. flash 



Per Cent 

Acid 
in Butter 



.3073 
.2565 
.2295 
.2093 



Pasteurization tends to lower the acidity of the cream and 
butter. The decrease usually averages about .05 per cent, but may 
be greater. It is greater in the flash process than in the holding- 
process of pasteurization. The lowering of the acidity due to 
pasteurization may be explained to be caused by the expulsion 
by heat of carbon dioxide and other volatile acids which may 
be present in the cream, and the higher the temperature of 
pasteurization, the more complete is this expulsion and there- 
fore the greater the decrease of the per cent acid in pasteur- 
ized cream butter. 

The influence of pasteurization to reduce the acidity in 
cream and butter must of necessity largely depend on the con- 
dition of the cream. The carbon dioxide and other volatile 
acids present are, in the main, products of fermentation. They 



222 Ae;rating or Blowing Creiam 

are, thereiore, present to a greater extent in intensely fer- 
mented and sour cream than in cream of good quality and with 
low acidity. Hence the reduction of the acidity due to pasteur- 
ization must be greater in cream of poor quality, and especially 
in yeasty cream, than in cream of good quality and cream that 
comes fresh and sweet from the separator. 

AERATING OR BLOWING CREAM. 

Purpose. — By aeration of cream is understood the inten- 
tional and systematic exposure of the cream to air. The pur- 
pose of such aeration is to facilitate the escape from the cream 
of objectionable volatile substances, gases, that harbor unde- 
sirable odors and flavors. In short, the object of aeration is 
to improve the flavor of cream and butter. 

Methods. — The aeration may be accomplished in three 
different manners, i. e. 1. By exposing the cream in a thin 
layer to the atmospheric air. 2. By blowing air through the 
cream. 3. By drawing the air and gases out of the cream by 
suction. 

The first method usually consists of running the hot cream 
from the pasteurizer over a surface-coil cooler. The cream 
flowing over the cooler in a very thin film, comes in contact 
with a relatively large amount of air, facilitating the escape 
of gases and objectionable odors. The heat of the pasteurized 
cream further enhances the expulsion of these gases. The re- 
moval of the escaping gases may be further hastened by the 
installation of a ventilator over the aerator-cooler and the effi- 
ciency of the ventilator may be augmented by equipping it 
with a mechanical fan. In this form of aeration, it is important 
that the atmosphere in which the cream is aerated and to which 
it is exposed, be free from foul odors and bacterial pollution, 
otherwise the cream will absorb these odors and become re- 
contaminated with germ life. 

The second method of aeration, the blowing of air through 
the cream, is an intensified form of aeration. Its purpose is 
to not only bring the cream in contact with the maximum 
amount of air, but to cause this air to blow through the cream 
and thereby mechanically force the gases out of the cream. 
The blowing is accomplished by the use of a centrifugal fan. 



Aerating or Blowing Cream 223 

This fan draws the air from the outside of the factory and 
pumps it through the cream. In order to insure pure air 
for this purpose, the air is drawn through absorbent cotton, 
canvas or other filtering material, usually placed in a funnel 
at the suction end of the air pipe on top of the roof. This 
filter removes the dust, soot, flies and other impurities in the 
air. From this funnel the air is generally drawn through a 
water bath, preferably lime water, for additional cleansing. The 
lime water not only removes dirt, etc., but also absorbs car- 
bon dioxide and other gases, some of which may contain objec- 
tionable odors. 

From the lime water bath the air is blown through the 
cream in the vat, or forewarmer, or both, through perforated 
pipes installed in the bottom of the vat. In some of these 
blowing systems, the vat is closed during the blowing opera- 
tion and a second pump or fan draws the air escaping from 
the cream to the outside. The blowing generally occupies 
from 20 to 30 minutes. In some creameries the cold cream is 
blown, in others the air is blown through the hot cream. 

In the third method of aeration the cream is enclosed in 
a nearly air-tight chamber, to which suction is applied, sucking 
the air and gases present in the cream out of it. This method 
represents a partial evacuation of the air in the cream. 

Effect of Aeration on Flavor of Cream and Butter. — There 
can be no question that any form of aeration, assists in removing 
objectionable gases, odors and flavors, that may be present, and 
therefore, improves the flavor of the cream and butter to that 
extent. The more intimate the contact of the cream with the 
air, the more complete is the removal of odors. In this 
respect, therefore, the blowing of cream is a more effective 
method of aeration than the mere surface exposure of the 
cream to the air. 

Effect of Aeration on the Keeping Quality of Butter. — 
From the standpoint of the keeping quality of the butter, any 
method of aeration, that mixes air into the cream, is positively 
objectionable. The newer knowledge of butter deterioration is 
demonstrating conclusively, that the fundamental agencies that 
shorten the life' of butter, that cause it to deteriorate and to 
develop flavor defects with age, are intimately associated with 



224 Aerating or Blowing CrEam 

the oxidation of one or more of the constituents of cream and 
butter. Atmospheric air is an active oxidizing" agent. Its 
presence in cream and in butter, hastens deterioration, and the 
greater the amount of air present, the more rapid and the 
more intense the destructive action. 

To run the hot cream over a surface coil cooler, where it 
is freely exposed to the air, is detrimental to the keeping" qual- 
ity of the resulting butter. The damaging action of the air in 
this case is greatly intensified by the heat of the cream, and 
the copper of the aerator over which the cream flows. Heat 
alone enhances all forms of oxidation. The heat and acid of 
the cream act on the copper and copper is a most active oxi- 
dizer and catalizer. Even very minute quantities of copper 
salts in butter, resulting from the action of hot, slightly sour 
cream in the presence of air, have a very intense deteriorating 
effect on the butter. 

To blow air into and through the cream obviously in- 
fluences the keeping quality in a similar unfavorable manner, 
and if the cream is blown while hot, the action is correspond- 
ingly greater. The blowing of cream, therefore, is a very 
questionable expedient, as a means to improve the permanent 
flavor of the butter. 

These facts can leave but little doubt that, while surface 
aeration and blowing do temporarily improve the flavor of 
cream and of butter, they are positively dangerous to the keep- 
ing quality of butter, and since keeping quality is the crucial 
and final criterion of butter acceptable to the trade, these forms 
of aeration cannot be recommended as beneficial processes in 
the manufacture of butter. 

The drawing of air out of the cream, on the other hand, 
has distinct merits, as far as it is practicable. It not only 
improves its flavor, but it assists in removing from cream one 
of the destructive agents — airland thereby tends to enhance 
the stability of the finished product. 

If it were mechanically and economically feasible to handle 
the cream and to manufacture the butter under reduced pres- 
sure, in a partial vacuum, the keeping quality of butter would 
be greatly benefitted and such a process of so-called aeration 
might logically be looked upon as the last word on ideal butter 
manufacture. 



CrF-am Ripening 225 

Chapter TX. 

CREAM RIPENING AND STARTER MAKING. 
THE RIPENING OF CREAM. 

Definition. — By cream ripening is generally understood the 
treatment the cream receives and the changes which it under- 
goes in flavor, aroma and texture from the time it leaves the 
separator until it reaches the churn. These changes largely 
control the quality of the resulting butter, with reference to 
flavor, aroma and texture. Under present conditions and tak- 
ing into consideration the several processes to which cream is 
subjected in the modern creamery, this broad definition is 
somewhat misleading and should be modified. Cream ripening, 
strictly speaking, refers to the souring and chilling of the 
cream preparatory to churning. 

Contrary to popular impression the practice of ripening 
cream is the result of economic expediency, rather than of a 
specific discovery or invention, or of careful and systematic 
planning and experimenting for the attainment of an important 
purpose. Cream ripening began in the early days of butter 
manufacture on the farm. In order to save time and labor the 
dairy farmer dispensed with the task of churning his cream 
daily and adopted the practice of churning the cream of sev- 
eral da3^s' production together. In those days the creaming 
was done exclusively by the gravity system, using in most 
cases the shallow-pan method. When the cream was skimmed 
off it was already slightly sour and its additional holding at 
temperatures not low enough to check bacterial action till 
churning day, caused it usually to be quite sour and ripe by 
the time it reached the churn. A further reason for allowing 
the cream to sour was that this sour cream churned more 
readily and more exhaustively than sweet cream. It churned 
quicker and produced more butter. 

Some of the butter made by this natural ripening process 
was of the very best quklity. This was true especially where 
proper attention was given in the production and handling of the 
milk and cream, to cleanliness, and when the butter was thor- 
oughly washed and properly worked. Much of the butter, 
however, was made on farms where these precautions were not 



226 Crf;am Ripkninc; 

regularly observed, resulting- in butter of poor flavor and of 
inferior keeping quality. But this butter made from sour cream 
showed a high aroma and flavor which sweet cream butter did 
not possess. The consumer became accustomed to this high 
flavor, learned to like it and gradually demanded it. 

In order to satisfy this demand the souring or ripening of 
cream was gradually adopted even in dairies and later in cream- 
eries where the cream was available in sweet condition and 
where it was churned daily. As the fundamental principles of 
cream ripening became better understood, and with the help- 
ing hand of science, the process of cream ripening was gradu- 
ally perfected, eliminating as far as possible some of the agen- 
cies detrimental to good butter, and intensifying those agencies 
which became known to produce the best results. In this evo- 
lution the most prominent factors that assisted in the improve- 
ment of the process of cream ripening and of the quality of 
the resulting butter were, the advent of the centrifugal sepa- 
rator, which gradually replaced the gravity can ; the introduc- 
tion of pasteurization of milk or cream, which removed the 
great majority of undesirable bacteria and other forms of germ 
life, and the adoption of pure culture starters which made pos- 
sible the almost exclusive development of ferments produc- 
ing the desired flavor and aroma. 

Purpose. — The principal objects of cream ripennig as now 
practiced are: 1. To give the butter the desired flavor, aroma 
and texture ; 2. to produce uniformity of quality and 3. to 
increase the exhaustiveness of churning. 

1. To Produce Flavor and Aroma. — The exact and specific 
agents which are responsible for the characteristic and desired 
butter flavor and aroma during the ripening process, have not 
as yet been conclusively determined. The fact that milk and 
cream, when souring in the natural way, contain very greatly 
predominating numbers of lactic acid bacteria, especially Strep- 
tococcus lacticus and Bacterium lactis acidi, has led to the 
assumption that these species of lactic acid bacteria play an 
essential part in the production of the characteristic flavor and 
aroma in butter. This has been further borne out by the fact 
that when inoculated into sweet cream these micro-organisms 



Cream Ripening 227 

do, under proper conditions of ripening, produce a butter of a 
cleaner flavor and aroma and of better keeping quality, than 
when cream is permitted to sour in the ordinary way and with- 
out the addition of a pure culture of these organisms. 

On the other hand, it is generally conceded that butter 
from cream in which the promiscuous assortment of organisms 
of its natural bacterial flora has been largely destroyed by pas- 
teurization, and which has been ripened with a pure culture 
starter of these lactic acid bacteria, has a milder and less pro- 
nounced flavor than butter made from cream ripened in the 
natural way. Conn, Weigmann, Freudenreich, Ademetz, Mar- 
shall, Bosworth and other investigators have succeeded in 
isolating species of bacteria, yeast and molds, capable of pro- 
ducing the characteristic and desired butter flavors to a very 
marked degree. Among these flavor- and aroma-microbes were 
bacteria of the coli and aerogenes group, also peptonizing 
yeast and molds. Some of these specific butterflavor-produc- 
ing organisms were recommended to be used jointly with the 
real lactic acid milk bacteria in the ripening of cream. These 
findings suggest that possibly the associative action of one or 
more of these specific aroma-producing organisms with one or 
both of the lactic acid bacteria, streptococcus lacticus and Bac- 
terium lactis acidi, is needed to produce a high butter flavor. 

Furthermore, it is by no means established that the but- 
ter flavors are exclusively of bacterial origin. Experience has 
amply demonstrated that the feed which the cows consume 
may directly or indirectly affect the flavor of the butter. Some 
of the aromatic substances coming from the feed may pass 
into the milk direct, through the udder, the excreta, or the 
air, as completely developed substances from the feed. But it 
is equally probable that they are separated from the feed and 
reach the udder as complex and but slightly aromatic products 
from which volatile and aromatic products are formed in the 
ripening process by bacterial decomposition. In this latter case 
the micro-organisms which bring about these decompositions are 
therefore aroma-producing only in the milk and .cream which 
contain these specific materials, but not in all milk and cream. 

The period of lactation of the cows also has a very pro- 
nounced effect on the presence and intensity of the desirably 



228 Cream Ripii:NiNG 

aroma and flavor of butter. Thus butter from cows during the 
first two to three months of lactation invariably shows the 
desirable flavor and aroma, characteristic of good butter, very 
decidedly, while butter from cows which approach the latter 
stage of the period of lactation lacks this characteristic butter 
flavor and is prone to have a somewhat stale and lifeless taste. 
This fact is explained to be due to the relatively high per cent 
of volatile and soluble fats in milk from fresh cows and the 
relatively low per cent of these same fats toward the end of 
the period of lactation. 

Inasmuch as the lactic acid bacteria which have been 
found to produce a clean acid, and which are being used in the 
manufacture of pure starter cultures for cream ripening, pro- 
duce only a mild butter flavor and aroma, it might be of much 
importance to the butter industry to find a butter-aroma organ- 
ism capable through joint action with the lactic acid bacteria, 
to produce a butter with a high characteristic butter flavor 
and aroma. 

So far, all known attempts in the manufacture of butter 
on a commercial scale, of developing starters and ripening 
cream through associative bacterial action have failed to pro- 
duce the desired object. The differences in temperature and 
other requirements between different groups of micro-organ- 
isms have made difficult the joint development of these organ- 
isms in their proper proportion and have made uns^iitable this 
method of cream ripening on a commercial scale. Experience 
has also demonstrated that butter with a high aroma and flavor 
is generally of relatively low keeping quality. Such butter 
tends to "go oft'" in flavor comparatively rapidly and is particu- 
larly unsuited for storage purposes. 

These reasons largely explain why we recognize today only 
certain lactic acid bacteria which may be used to advantage in. 
cream ripening. The most prominent of these are Streptococcus 
lacticus and Bacterium lactis acidi. 

2. To Prgduce Uniform Quality. — It is obvious from the dis- 
cussion of the effect of cream ripening on the flavor of the butter 
that in the absence of a systematic method of ripening the cream, 
the production of a uniform flavor from day to day and season to 



Cream Ripening 229 

season is difficult. If the fermentation of the cream during the 
ripening process is at all responsible for the flavor of the result- 
ing butter, the systematic use of specific bacteria in the cream 
ripening process is bound to greatly assist in securing a uniform 
flavor in the butter. If, on the other hand, no attempt is made to 
control the bacterial flora of the cream and its development, either 
by pasteurization which destroys most of the organisms present, 
or by ripening with pure cultures of lactic acid bacteria, or by 
both, the butter maker is powerless to regulate the flavor in 
the finished product and the flavor of the butter will largely 
vary with the character of the cream that he receives. 

3. To Increase the Exhaustiveness of Churning, — Other 
conditions being the same, the churn yield from a given quantity 
of butter fat depends on the exhaustiveness of the churning. The 
more exhaustive the churning, the less of the butter fat will be 
lost in the buttermilk and the larger will be the amount of butter 
made. 

Experience has amply demonstrated that sour or ripened 
cream will churn out more readily and more exhaustively than 
sweet cream. This means less labor and time required to com- 
plete the churning and more butter made from sour cream than 
from the same amount of butter fat in sweet cream. This fact 
is due to the difiference in the viscosity between sweet and sour 
cream. Sweet cream is of relatively viscous consistency due 
to the colloid condition of the casein. The viscosity minimizes 
the concussion to which the fat globules are exposed during 
the churning process, and therefore delays the formation of 
butter granules. For the same reason, also, a relatively large 
proportion of the small fat globules is not churned out at the 
time the churn is stopped and there is excessive loss of fat 
in the buttermilk. 

In the ripened cream the viscosity is very materially re- 
duced. The acid alters the physical condition of the casein, 
and other nitrogenous bodies precipitating them into finely 
divided particles. This changes the mechanical condition of 
the cream from a viscous body to a granular, friable body. In 
this sour cream the fat globules encounter less resistance and 
have greater freedom to respond to the agitation caused by the 



230 Cri5am Ripening 

revolving churn. They strike each other and the sides of the 
churn oftener and with greater force. Their equilibrium is dis- 
turbed more readily and the formation of butter granules is 
facilitated, shortening the time required for churning, churn- 
ing out more completely, and avoiding excessive loss of fat in 
the buttermilk. 

The excessive loss of fat incurred by churning sweet 
cream may be avoided by lowering the churning temperature. 
The lower temperature retards the churning and gives the 
smaller fat globules which are slow in uniting, a better oppor- 
tunity to churn out before the churn is stopped. 

Effect of Cream Ripening on the Keeping Quality of 
Butter. — The relation of ripening of cream to the keeping quality 
of butter has not been clearly understood for many years and 
even to this day the general impression prevails that cream 
ripening improves the keeping quality of the butter. Thus 
McKay and Larsen,^ Meyer,- and Michels^ emphasize the im- 
provement of the keeping quality of butter as one of the objects 
of cream ripening. 

There are no experimental data on record that show that the 
ripening of cream ever improved the keeping quality of butter, 
but there is plenty of evidence, both experimental and commer- 
cial, that the ripening of cream is a distinct detriment to the 
keeping quality of butter. 

The "theory" that cream ripening improves the keeping 
quality of butter originated with the advent of the use of pure 
culture starters. Lactic acid bacteria which produced the de- 
sired flavor and did not noticeably decompose the protein of 
cream, were thought to be favorable to keeping quality. Their 
predominance in ripened cream, retarding or inhibiting the de- 
velopment of micro-organisms of the liquefying and putrefac- 
tive species, was considered a partial protection against undesir- 
able changes and fermentations which give rise to objection- 
able flavors, and the lactic acid thus produced in itself was 
thought to have a sufficient antiseptic effect to control, if not 
inhibit, the growth of the bacteria known to produce objec- 
tionable flavors and odors. 



1 McKay and Larsen, Principles and Practices of Buttermaking, 1915, p. 192. 

2 Martin H. Meyer, Modern Buttermaking, 1910, p. 74. 
» John Michels, Creamery Buttermaking, 1914, p. 46, 



Cream RipEninc, 231 

This was the bacteriologists' theory. Within its own limi- 
tations it was perfectly natural and reasonable, but as far as 
its relation to the keeping quality of butter is concerned, it was 
utterly erroneous. He considered good flavor of fresh butter 
and keeping quality synonymous. 

High flavor and keeping quality are not synonymous, but 
they are positively antagonistic to one another. One and the 
same churning of butter may have either, high flavor or keep- 
ing quality, but it cannot have both. Cream ripening means 
fermentation. High flavor, which is produced by cream ripen- 
ing, then, is the result of a partial decomposition of one or more 
of the constituents of cream and which subsequently, become 
constituents of the butter. The deterioration of butter with age 
also is the result of decomposition of one or more of its con- 
stituents. 

Cream ripening, therefore, represents the first stages of 
the decomposition of one or more of the constituents which sub- 
sequently make up the composition of butter. It so happens 
that the changes resulting from this early and partial decomposi- 
tion, caused by the ripening of cream, yield flavors that are 
desired. But when this decomposition goes beyond a certain 
stage, flavors are produced that are objectionable and vvhich are 
recognized as a deterioration of the butter. 

Cream that is ripened sufficiently to give butter a very 
pronounced, high flavor, produces butter that, when taken from 
the churn, represents a product in which the flavor-producing 
decomposition has been carried to the very limit of changes that 
are capable of producing good flavor. But this decomposition 
does not stop at the churn, it continues, only instead of going 
on producing desired flavors, these further changes yield now 
objectionable flavors, the butter deteriorates. Hence butter so 
made, has reached the peak of quality at the churn, it has at- 
tained the very top of desired flavor and any further changes 
which even a few weeks of age are bound to bring about, place 
it on the tobbogan, it cannot change further without deteriorat- 
ing, it will not stay inert, because the changes once Gtarted must 
go on. Cream ripening, therefore, not only does not improve 
the keeping quality of butter, it actually tends to destroy it. 



232 Cream RiPENiNci 

On the other hand, if butter is made from sweet or only 
slightly ripened cream, its flavor is mild, the decomposition has 
been only slight. When this butter is taken from the churn, 
the changes which are capable of developing good flavor have 
not reached the limit. Further changes do not produce im- 
mediate deterioration, the top has not been reached, and the 
development of good flavor can continue through a consider- 
able distance of changes and for a considerable length of time, 
before the desired flavor yields to objectionable flavor and 
deterioration. Therefore, butter made from sweet or only 
slightly ripened cream, has relatively good keeping quality, other 
details of the process of manufacture and quality of the original 
cream being the same. 

Again, the theory that the lactic acid produced during the 
process of cream ripening exerts a favorable influence on the 
keeping quality of butter is not well founded. It has gained 
considerable credence because of the fact that high acid, such 
as is found in ripened cream, produces an unfavorable medium 
for many of the objectionable bacteria present in the cream, 
and therefore retards or inhibits their destructive action. This 
argument permits of consideration only when confined to the 
cream. In the finished butter, made from ripened cream, the 
percent acid is too low, ranging usually between .15 and .35 
percent, to exert any appreciable retarding action on germ life. 
From the standpoint of the biological efTect of the lactic acid 
resulting from cream ripening, therefore, it is highly improb- 
able that the ripening of cream is capable of benefitting the 
keeping quality of butter. 

On the other hand, even the slight increase in the acidity 
of butter made from ripened cream, through chemical action, has 
a very marked detrimental effect on the keeping quality of the but- 
ter. It appears that acid is one of the essential agents, in the com- 
bination of conditions that reduce the resistance of butter against 
the deteriorating influence of age, and that causes the develop- 
ment of such off-flavors as storage flavor, oily flavor, metallic 
flavor, fishy flavor, etc., as discussed in Chapter XVII on "Butter 
Defects." 

The fact that the changes brought about in sour cream, 
whether souring be due to natural causes or to artificial ripen- 



Cream Ripe;ning 233 

.ing, for the development of flavor, are detrimental to the keep- 
ing quality of the butter has been conclusively established, both 
experimentally and in practical buttermaking, although the 
teaching and practice of churning cream at a low acidity are 
far from being generally accepted as yet in the creamery world. 

H. J. Credicott^, proprietor of the Freeport Creamery, Free- 
port, 111., and formerly buttermaker in Minnesota, and later 
butter expert for the U. S. Department of Agriculture, was the 
first exponent of sweet-cream churning, who successfully manu- 
factured butter from sweet cream without ripening, after the 
practice of ripening cream had been generally adopted in this 
country. McKay^ and Hunziker^ first demonstrated methods 
and the advantages of reducing the acidity in sour cream for 
buttermaking. 

Rogers* as the result of an extensive investigation of the 
causes of fishy flavor in butter, states that "in all cases in which 
the records were complete, it was found that those experimental 
butters Avhich became fishy were made from high-acid cream, 
though cream with high acidity did not uniformly develop fishi- 
ness. Rogers and Gray^ found more rapid deterioration of but- 
ter made from high-acid cream than from sweet cream, and they 
conclude that the acid developed normally in the cream by the 
action of lactic acid bacteria, or added directly to the cream 
in the form of pure acid, brings about, or assists in bringmg 
about, a slow decomposition of one or more of the labile com- 
pounds of which butter is largely composed ; and Dyer*' dem- 
onstrated that "the production of off-flavors, so commonly met 
with in cold storage butter, is attributed to a chemical change 
expressed through a slow oxidation, progressing in some one 
or more of the non-fatty substances occurring in buttermilk, 



1 Credicott, Address at First National Dairy Show, Chicago, 1906. 

" McKay, Experiments in Neutralizing Sour Cream for Buttermaking, at 
Iowa Dairy School, 1906, Results not published. 

» Hunziker, Experiments and Commercial Practice, at Purdue University 
Creamery, 1906 — 1916, Results not published. 

Hunziker, Address at National Conference of Allied Dairy Interests, 
Washington, D. C. 1916. 

Hunziker, Spitzer & Mills, Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed Cream 
for Buttermaking, Purdue Bulletin 203, 1917. 

Hunziker, The Neutralization of Cream, Address American Association of 
Creamery Butter Manufacturers, Chicago, 1918. 

* Rogers, Fishy Flavor in Butter, U. S. Dept. of Agr. B.A.I. Circular 146, 
1909. 

" Rogers and Gray, The Influence of Acid of Cream on the Flavor of Butter, 
U. S. Dept. of Agr. B.A.I. Bulletin 114, 1909. 

« Dyer, Progressive Oxidation of Cold Storage Butter, Journal Agr. Re- 
search, Vol. VI. No. 24, 1916. 



234 Cream Ripe;ning 

and that the extent of this chemical change is directly propoi-. 
tional to the quantity of acid present in the cream from which 
the butter was made." 

In the presence of the above facts it appears safe to con- 
clude that the ripening of cream does not enhance the keeping 
quality of butter, that the churning of sour cream is distinctly 
injurious to keeping quality, that butter that is not consumed 
soon after it is manufactured, or butter intended for storage 
purposes, should be made from unripened cream or from cream 
in which the acidity is low, and that cream ripening is justifi- 
able only in the case of butter that is intended for immediate 
consumption. 

Natural Ripening of Cream. — The natural ripening of cream 
consists of allowing the cream to sour without the addition of a 
starter. This is the oldest method of cream ripening, the cream 
is held at a temperature favorable for bacterial action until it 
is sour. The character of fermentation which occurs and the 
quality of the resulting butter depend largely on the bacterial 
flora of the cream after it leaves the separator, or after it ar- 
rives at the creamery and this in turn will depend on the sani- 
tary care which the milk and cream receive on the farm, on the 
age of the cream and on the particular types of bacteria which 
may predominate in any given locality and at any given season 
of the year. With cream that is clean and that has been produced 
•under highly sanitary conditions, natural ripening may produce 
very good butter. Where little or no attention is given to clean- 
liness, contamination of the cream with relatively large num- 
bers of undesirable species of micro-organisms is unavoidable. 
When such cream is allowed to ripen in the natural way, un- 
desirable fermentations are prone to gain the ascenderjcy, re- 
sulting in butter of inferior flavor and low keeping properties. 
Inasmuch as the natural ripening process affords no facilities 
for controlling fermentations, the product usually also lacks in 
uniformity of quality. The bacterial flora of the cream varies 
not only with the individual care which each lot of cream, re- 
ceives on the farm, but also with the season of the year. Thus 
in early summer when the cows are on pasture, conditions are 
favorable to a preponderance of lactic acid bacteria to the partial 
exclusion of peptonizing and putrefactive germs, while in late 



Cream Ripening 235 

fall, winter and early spring, when the cows in the central and 
northern dairy belt are confined to the stable and receive dry 
feed, there is a marked increase in the group of putrefactive 
microbes which tend to impair the flavor and shorten the life 
of the butter, unless their action is retarded by pasteurization 
or possibly by the addition of lactic acid bacteria to the cream. 

At best, the results from the natural ripening process are 
uncertain. Where butter of uniformly high quality is desired 
the natural ripening cannot be recommended and it is justifi- 
able only, if at all, when butter is made on too small a scale 
to warrant the extra labor and expense of handling pure culture 
starters, as is the case on the majority of farms making farm 
dairy butter and where the milk and cream are produced under 
highly sanitary conditions. 

While, under favorable conditions, natural ripening may 
give butter a flavor more attractive to the palate of the consumer 
than butter made from sweet cream, the keeping quality of 
such butter is prone to be low and would be materially improved 
by not ripening such cream at all. 

Artificial Ripening of Cream. — By artificial cream ripen- 
ing is understood the souring of the cream with the aid of a 
starter. The term starter includes a variety of materials, such 
as buttermilk, sour cream from the previous churning, sour 
milk and skim milk ripened by spontaneous souring and sour 
milk, cream, diluted condensed milk, or redissolved skim milk 
powder, ripened by the addition of a pure culture of lactic acid 
bacteria. 

The desirability of the use of buttermilk and sour cream 
for starter, depends very largely on the degree of purity of the 
previous batch of cream. If the cream shows a pure, mild acid, 
the resulting buttermilk ma.y be reasonably safe to use as starter, 
provided that the cream was not overripe and the churn at the 
time of churning was in good sanitary condition. Buttermilk 
from overripe cream and from cream lacking in clean acid flavor 
is unsafe. Its use is likely to propagate, in the next lot of 
cream, the very fermentations which are to be avoided. 

Sour cream, if of a clean acid may prove beneficial in the 
absence of a better starter. In most cases, however, its use is 



236 Cream Ripening 

not to be recommended, it has the same objections as the use 
of buttermilk. Then, again, the butterfat as well as the non-fatty 
constituents in this sour cream are thus exposed to a double 
ripening- period; this is considered undesirable because of the 
possible action of the acid on these cream constituents, lower- 
ing their resistance to oxidation, if not actually starting oxida- 
tion, or cleavage by hydrolysis, thereby jeopardizing the quality 
of the butter. 

Spontaneously soured milk or skim milk starter is pref- 
erable to either buttermilk or sour cream, provided that in its 
preparation a high sanitary quality of raw material, milk or 
skim milk, has been selected. Otherwise, the ripening of cream 
by the use of such starters may be no better than the natural 
ripening of cream. 

Milk or skim milk starters and possibly starters made from 
condensed and powdered milk, soured with pure cultures of 
lactic acid bacteria, are the only really dependable starters and 
it is the use of this group of starters which will be exclusively 
considered in the discussion of artificial cream ripening. 

The ripening of cream by means of pure culture starters is 
a practice which has come into more general use in this country 
only within the last score of years. Its application is largely 
the result of investigations of Storch.^ 

Artificial cream ripening may be divided into two classes, 
namely, ripening by the addition of a sufficient amount of 
starter to raw cream to control fermentations, and 2. ripening 
of cream in which the majority of bacteria and other ferments 
have been destroyed by pasteurization and which, after cooling 
has been inoculated with a lactic acid starter. 

Either of these methods is preferable to the natural ripen- 
ing process, inasmuch as they both assist in regulating fermenta- 
tion by accelerating the development of desirable lactic bacteria 
to the partial exclusion of other organisms. In the case of 
artificial ripening of raw cream, the control of the fermentations 
may, however, be less complete and the final results less cer- 
tain than when the cream is first pasteurized. The raw cream 
has a mixed flora which may consist of both desirable and un- 



^ Storch, Eighteenth Annual Report of Danish Experiment Station, 1890. 



Crkam RiPENiNci 237 

desirable bacteria. Unless the starter added is an active one, 
and the cream is of relatively good quality the benefits of arti- 
ficial ripening are prone to be very diminutive. In the case of 
sour gathered cream, nothing is gained by further ripening un- 
less possibly here neutralization is resorted to. In this kind 
of cream the fats and the curd have already been exposed to 
acid for an excessive length of time and further ripening will 
tend to weaken their resistance just that much more, invit- 
ing with greater certainty their partial decomposition. 

If the cream is properly pasteurized before the starter is 
added the fermentations that occur during the cream ripening 
period can be controlled most readily, provided, of course, that 
the operator understands the fundamental requirements for re- 
lative optimum development of the lactic acid organisms and 
has proper facilities in the way of temperature control. The 
artificial ripening of pasteurized cream is, from the bacteriolog- 
ical point of view, the most nearly ideal method of cream ripen- 
ing. In pasteurized cream the bacterial count of all bacteria has 
been reduced to a relatively low figure, approximately to one- 
tenth of one per cent of their original number. The cream 
furnishes therefore an ideal seed bed for the lactic acid starter, 
and the desirable bacteria, added in the form of a pure culture 
starter, have a free and unhindered field for rapid development. 

Here again it should be understood that the better the 
quality of the cream, the better and the more uniform will be 
the results of the ripening process. The ordinary run of gathered 
cream, such as is received at the centralized creamery, averages 
possibly about from 50,000,000 to 500,000,000 bacteria per cubic 
centimeter. Assuming that the pasteurization efficiency, or germ- 
killing efificiency be 99.9 per cent, which is very good under 
average commercial conditions, there would still be left in the 
cream 50,000 to 500,000 bacteria per cubic centimeter. Since 
a considerable proportion of the micro-organisms which survive 
belong to the group of undesirable or harmful types, it is 
obvious that the development of undesirable fermentations dur- 
ing the ripening process is by no means entirely eliminated, in 
spite of pasteurization, and that the otherwise beneficial results 
of artificial ripening are prone to be partly paralyzed. 



238 Crsam Ripening 

Temperature of the Cream for Ripening. — Bacteriologically, 
the best temperature for ripening cream is that at which the 
desirable lactic acid bacteria develop more readily than any other 
type or species of micro-organisms. The optimum temperature 
for lactic acid bacteria lies within the range of 90 to 100° F. 
This temperature, however, is most favorable also to the growth 
of many species of organisms harmful to the quality of butter, 
such as those belonging to the Bacillus coli group, the aerogenes 
group, and certain species of yeast and molds, etc. For this 
reason these high temperatures, 90 to 100° F., are unsuitable 
for the ripening of cream. 

On the other hand, experience has shown that a tem- 
perature of from 60 to 70° F. permits of reasonably rapid develop- 
ment of the lactic acid bacteria while such temperatures are too 
low to give most of the harmful species an opportunity to gain 
the ascendency. Hence this lower range of temperatures, 60 to 
70° F., has been generally adopted as the proper ripening tem- 
perature. In summer when the atmospheric temperature is rela- 
tively high and other conditions are comparatively favorable for 
rapid acid development, the cream is preferably ripened at 60 
to 65° F. In winter when the atmospheric temperature is rela- 
tively low and other conditions present tend to retard lactic acid 
fermentation, the cream is preferably ripened at 65 to 70° F. 

Aside from the fact that relatively high ripening tempera- 
tures invite the development and domination of undesirable bac- 
teria, such as the species of the Bacillus coli and the aerogenes 
group, etc., at the expense of the pure lactic acid ferments, they 
may also prove harmful to the texture and body of the butter, 
causing the butter to be soft and weak in body and of a salvy 
texture. All of these phenomena indicate unmistakably the 
danger of ripening the cream at high temperatures. The un- 
favorable effect of high ripening temperature is more pronounced 
in the case of cream of a poor quality than with cream of a high 
degree of purity. 

In more recent years many of the most observant butter 
makers are leaning towards low-temperature ripening and many 
creameries have adopted the practice of ripening their cream at 
temperatures ranging from 48 to 55° F. This practice is rec- 
ommended especially where a rather sour cream is received, 



Cre;am Ripe;ning 239 

such as is the case in gathered cream creameries all over the 
country, if such cream must be ripened. Its advantages are, that 
most of the undesirable fermentations are held in check and 
that the resulting body of the butter is firm and free from w^eak- 
ness. The retardation of the acid development at these low tem- 
peratures may be materially overcome by the use of a larger 
amount of starter (See Amount of Starter to Add to Cream, 
page 242.) 

Control of Ripening temperature. — If the process of cream 
ripening is to be successful it is essential that the operator have 
as complete control over the temperature of the cream as pos- 
sible. This is necessary, not only in order to maintain a uniform 
temperature during the ripening process proper, but especially 
also in order to cool the cream promptly and properly as soon 
as the desired degree of acidity has been reached. The absence 
of such facilities may cause exposure of the cream to too high 
ripening temperature and the over-ripening of the cream, both 
of which jeopardize the flavor and body of the butter. 

Ripening Vats.^ — The essentials for adequate facilities for 
regulating the temperature of the cream are equipment to permit 
exposure of the cream over a relatively large area of heating 
and cooling surface and an adequate supply of an efficient cool- 
ing medium, such as cold water, ice water or brine. 

In order to increase the tempering capacity of the cream 
ripening vat, the vat must be equipped with an agitator that 
brings large volumes of the cream in direct contact with the heat- 
ing or cooling surface. For this purpose there are now in use 
cream ripening vats with coil or disc agitators, the heating or 
cooling medium passing through the revolving agitator. These 
agitator vats are a great improvement over the old jacketed 
ripening vat without agitator, from the standpoint of heat control. 
One seriously objectionable feature of most of these ripening 
vats with disc or coil agitators is that the bearings and stuffing 
boxes of their axis are submerged in the cream and some cream 
is bound to enter these glands, where it is ground to grease. The 
mechanical effect of this alone is undesirable and the lodging of 
the cream in these friction places is highly unsanitary and con- 
ducive to contaminatinsf the cream with undesirable ferments. In 



240 Cr]?;am Ripening 

this respect, vats equipped with agitators of horizontal or vertical 
motion are preferable to the rotary agitators, such as the discs 
and horizontal coil, but the former are slower in their tempering 
action than the latter. There are some coil vats on the market 
now in which the coil is vertically suspended, removing the glands 
and bearings entirely from contact with the cream. 

Effect of Copperlined Vats on Quality of Butter, — From 
the standpoint of material of construction it should be thor- 
oughly understood, that the cream ripening vats, now in gen- 
eral use in this country, are unsuitable and highly objection- 
able, because the metal, copper, with which they are lined, con- 
stitutes one of the most active agencies that invites chemical 
decomposition of one or more of the constituents of cream and 
butter and thereby impairs the flavor and deteriorates the keep- 
ing quality of butter, as has been conclusively shown by Hun- 
ziker and Hosman^ who demonstrated that copper, alloys of 
copper such as brass and german silver, and copper salts, acting 
as powerful-oxygen-carriers and catalizers, are capable of intro- 
ducing oxidation in butter that is most disastrous to its flavor 
and keeping quality. Iron also has a specific catalytic action 
which aids the oxidation process, but in the case of iron bases 
and salts this action is relatively slight. Tin and nickel are 
practically inert, exerting no appreciable oxidizing influence. 

In the earlier days of butter manufacture, the lining of 
the cream ripening vats consisted of tinned sheet iron. The 
tin coating on the iron lining is relatively permanent. It stays 
bright as long as the vat lasts. These vats, however, were 
jacketed vats and the lining was prone to rust. The rusting 
did not usually occur on the inside of the vat lining that was 
exposed to the cream. The lining rusted on the jacket side, 
because of the continued exposure of the lining to the damp- 
ness in the jacket. 

From the standpoint of their effect on the quality of the 
cream these old-fashion, iron-lined, tinned, jacketed ripening 
vats were not objectionable. So long as the lining did not rust 
through from the outside, the tin coating remained on the sheet 
iron and was bright. But these vats were of comparatively short 



^ Hunziker and Hosman, Tallowy Butter — Its Causes and Prevention, Journal 
of Dairy Science, Vol. I., No. 4, 1917. 



Crkam Ripening 241 

life, because they rapidly rusted through from the outside and 
sprung leaks. Manufacturers of cream vats, therefore, endeav- 
ored to construct and place on the market, vats of a more dur- 
able metal and they naturally chose copper for the lining. This 
step seemed necessary also as the result of the introduction 
of brine as the cooling medium and its well-known corrosive 
action on iron. 




Fig". 36. Enameled cream ripeuingr tank 

Courtesy The Pfaudler Co. 

But all efforts, so far, to cover the copper surface with a 
satisfactory and permanent coating of tin, have been abortive. 
The exposure of the tinned copper surface of the ripening vat 
to the sour cream, causes the surface to soon turn black and 
the copper to be exposed, jeopardizing the quality of both cream 
and butter and giving rise to the most disastrous flavor dete- 
riorations in butter. Hence the copper-lined, tin-coated ripen- 
ing vats are highly unsatisfactory and their annual retinning 
involves a very considerable expense. 

Advantages of Glass-Enameled Vats. — Because of the gen- 
eral use in the creamery of brine for cooling the cream it is 
not feasible to return to the iron-lined, tinned cream ripening 
vats. But the perfection attained within recent years in the 
manufacture of glass-enameled vats, now makes possible their 



242 Cream Ripi<;ning 

use for cream ripening equipment, These vats, from the stand- 
point of their protection of the cream and butter against the 
oxidizing influence of exposed metals such as iron and copper, 
and the damaging effect of such chemical action to the quality 
of the butter, are as nearly ideal as can be desired and this de- 
sirability, and the absence of the necessity of frequent recoating 
are additional factors in their favor. 

In the presence of these facts it appears reasonable to be- 
lieve that as soon as the commercial butter manufacturers fully 
realize this disastrous influence of copper and copper salts on 
cream and butter, and learn to appreciate the feasibility of 
using glass-enameled vats in the creamery, glass-enameled vats 
will commence to take the place of copper-lined vats in a similar 
way as has been the case for years in the brewery and the con- 
densed milk factory, and is now the case in oleomargarine fac- 
tories, market milk and ice cream plants. This change will result 
in a marked improvement of the quality of butter, and especially 
of butter for storage purposes. 

Amount of Starter to Add to Cream. — The amount of 
starter to add to the cream depends on such factors as the tem- 
perature at which the cream is to be ripened, season of the 
year, the length of time during which the cream is to be 
ripened, the richness of the cream and the availability of the 
starter. The amount of starter that is used under normal con- 
ditions ranges from 5 per cent to 20 per cent, though larger 
amounts may be used to good advantage under certain con- 
ditions. 

At low ripening temperatures more starter is needed to 
ripen the cream than at high temperatures. When ripening 
around 50° F., 20 per cent starter is desirable, while at 65° F. 
10 to 15 per cent starter should be quite sufficient. 

If the time during which cream must be ripened is short, 
a relatively larger amount of starter is needed. Where condi- 
tions necessitate the prolonging of the ripening process, a less 
amount of starter should be used in order to guard against 
the danger of over-ripening. 

More starter is usually needed to ripen the cream in winter 
than in summer, because both, atmospheric conditions and the 



Crfiam RipivNing ^43 

bacterial flora of winter cream, tend to delay the souring', while 
in summer they are favorable to rapid souring. 

Cream rich in fat will take care of a relatively large amount 
of starter to good advantage, while the addition of large quan- 
tities of starter to thin cream would be a distinct disadvantage, 
the resulting dilution reducing the readiness and exhaustive- 
ness of the churning and decreasing the churn yield. 

Finally, the amount of starter used is controlled in a great 
many creameries by the availability and expense of milk and 
skim milk and other materials for starter making. Especially 
in the smaller gathered cream creameries the scarcity of a goo4 
quality of skim milk and the high price of other starter media, 
such as condensed milk and milk powder are a serious obstacle 
in the way of the use of a large amount of starter. 

Time Required for Ripening. — The time required for the 
ripening of cream depends on a variety of factors, some of 
which are ever changing. Generally speaking, quick ripening, 
if not done at too high temperatures, insures a purer lactic acid 
fermentation, greater freedom from the development of injurious 
fermentations and undesirable flavors than slow ripening. Unusu- 
ally quick ripening is the result of the use of a large percent of 
active starter Avhile slow ripening, other conditions being the 
same, is caused by the use of a small amount of starter, or 
starter that has lost some of its vitality and has become slug- 
gish. The longer the ripening period, the greater is the danger 
of the development of undesirable fermentations and flavors 
at the expense of the pure lactic acid fermentations. Slow 
ripening further jeopardizes the quality and especially the keep- 
ing quality of butter due to excessive exposure of the fat and 
curd to the acid, inviting partial decomposition of one or both 
of these ingredients. 

Sweet cream will generally require a longer ripening period 
than sour cream, in order to secure the desired degree of acidity 
and it will stand the longer ripening without danger of injury 
to the keeping quality of the butter better than sour cream. 
In the case of cream that is sweet and of good quality and 
relatively rich in butter fat, such as cream testing 35 per cent 
fat or over, the addition of a heavy starter, cooling immediately 



^44 Crf;am RipiiNiisrti 

to the churning temperature and holding it at that tempera- 
ture about twelve hours (over night) has been found to produce 
a butter of exceptionally fine quality. This practice is locked 
upon with favor by many creameries. Sour, gathered cream is 
rarely, if ever, benefitted by further ripening. It usually has 
a high degree of acidity when it reaches the factory and it is 
contaminated with a variety of detrimental organisms. If 
warmed to and held at the ripening temperature for any length 
of time, undesirable fermentations are prone to gain the upper 
hand, hastening objectionable decompositions and injuring 
the flavor and keeping quality of the butter, in spite of the 
addition of a pure culture lactic acid starter. For this reason 
sour gathered cream is best cooled to the churning temperature 
at once, or if pasteurized, immediately after pasteurization, and 
churned after holding it at that temperature for about three 
hours. The addition of starter to this type of cream either 
immediately after cooling or just before churning usually 
freshens up its flavor to some extent and improves the flavor 
of the resulting butter, though it may not benefit its keeping 
quality appreciably. 

The Proper Degree of Acidity in Cream at the Churn. — 

The per cent acid in cream at the churn that produce's the 
most desirable result depends on such factors as disposition 
of butter, whether it is intended for immediate consumption 
or for storage, quality of cream and richness of cream. 

That the addition of starter to cream and the proper ripen- 
ing of cream assist in developing flavor in butter is an estab- 
lished fact. Good starter improves the flavor of butter and 
the ripening of the cream produces the high flavor desired by 
the American consumer. If butter is intended for immediate 
consumption, therefore, the use of starter in all cream, and the 
ripening of cream that arrives at the creamery in sweet con- 
dition, are desirable and assist in best meeting the demands of 
the market. Under these conditions cream may be ripened 
with starter to an acidity of .50 to .60 per cent, the exact acidity 
varying with the fat of the cream. 

On the other hand, it should be clearly understood that 
acidity in cream is harmful to the keeping quality of the but- 
ter, assisting in the decomposition of the non-fatty constituents 



Cream Ripening 245 

in cream and butter. Hence, if butter remains on the market 
for several weeks before it reaches the consumer, or if it is in- 
tended for storage purposes, the ripening of the cream is not 
beneficial and may prove exceedingly harmful to the quality 
of the butter at the time it reaches the consumer. If starter 
is used at all in the manufacture of this butter, it should be 
added to the cream after the cream has been cooled to the 
churning temperature, or preferably immediately before the 
cream is drawn into the churn. This will lend the cream and 
butter the beneficial and freshening flavor effect of the starter 
and at the same time, it will prevent the acidity from rising 
to a point harmful to the keeping quality of butter. 

The desirability and extent of the use of starter and of 
cream ripening further depends on the quality of the cream. 
In the case of cream of good quality and that arrives at the 
creamery in sweet condition, the addition of starter and the 
ripening of the cream, do not jeopardize the keeping quality 
of the resulting butter nearly as much as in the case of cream 
of inferior quality, or cream that is already highly acid when 
it reaches the creamery. In this type of cream the fermenta- 
tions and the acidity produced may and usually have already 
started the formation of cleavage products and the further 
ripening hastens decomposition and shortens the life of the butter. 
This holds true of all sour cream, whether neutralized or not. 
If starter is used at all in cream that arrives at the creamery 
sour, it should be added only just before churning time. In 
most cases it would be preferable to use sweet milk or sweet 
skim milk, in the place of sour starter when butter made from 
this sour cream is held for any length of time before it is con- 
sumed. Or if the consumption of the butter is fairly rapid the 
milk originally intended for starter, may be divided into two 
equal portions, one half to be added as sweet milk, immediately 
after neutralization and before pasteurization, and the remainder 
as ripened starter, just before churning. Such cream should 
have an acidity of less than .3 per cent at the time of churning. 

In the case of sweet cream, it is obvious that butter made 
without the use of starter and without cream ripening, has a 
milder flavor than the public desires. Butter made in this man- 
ner is therefore, less suitable for immediate consumption, but 



246 Cream Ripening 

for storage purposes, such butter will show a better flavor 
when it comes out of storage, than butter made from ripened 
cream. 

The per cent acid to which cream may be ripened in case 
cream ripening is practiced, should be governed also by the 
richness of the cream. The development of lactic acid is the 
result of the action of the lactic acid bacteria on the milk 
sugar. The milk sugar is present only in the serum of the 
cream. The acid, therefore, also is confined to the serum, the 
fat being practically neutral. The relative amount of serum 
varies with the per cent of fat in the cream. The higher the 
per cent of fat, the smaller the proportion of the serum and 
the lower the per cent af acid required in the cream. The proper 
per cent of acid in the ripened cream therefore varies with, and 
should be adjusted in accordance with the fat content of the 
cream. It is obvious that, if uniformity of results is to be 
secured, there must be uniformity of the per cent of acid in 
the serum. 

Authorities are at variance as to the exact per cent of acid 
which cream of a given richness should contain. A few years 
past the general tendency was to favor a rather high acidity 
while more recently the danger of the detrimental effect of 
high acidity on the keeping quality of the butter has become 
more thoroughly appreciated, and those who have given this 
subject most careful study practically agree that an acidity of 
about .6 per cent for cream of good quality and testing 25 per 
cent fat is sufficiently high to meet the demand of the public 
for flavor and is less apt to jeopardize the keeping quality of 
the butter than a higher degree of ripeness. It should be under- 
stood that these figures refer only to cream of good quality 
and that reaches the creamery in sweet or nearly sweet con- 
dition. Ripening to this acidity is justifiable only when but- 
ter is intended for immediate consumption and the trade de- 
mands a high flavored butter. Accepting .6 per cent acid as 
the proper acidity for 25 per cent cream, it is a simple matter 
to calculate the per cent acid of the serum, which may be 
adopted as the standard. 

The per cent serum in cream is determined by deducting 
the per cent fat from 100. Cream testing 25 per cent fat there- 



Crkam Ripening 247 

fore contains 100 — 25^75 per cent serum. When the per 
cent acid in the cream is known, the per cent acid in the serum 
is calculated by dividing it by the per cent serum and multiply- 
ing the quotient by 100. The per cent acid in the serum, of 
cream testing 25 per cent fat and .6 per cent acid is as follows : 

-;^p-X 100-= .8 per cent acid. The above calculation shows that 

the standard amount of acid in the serum should be .8 per 
cent. On the above basis the standard per cent acid for. cream 
of any richness may readily be calculated, by deducting the 
per cent fat in the cream from 100, multiplying the difference by 
.8 and dividing the product by 100. 

Example : Cream, tests oZ% fat. To what per cent acid should 
it be ripened? 

100 — 33^67; — ttttt^ — = .536 per cent acid. 
100 

For the convenience of the operator Table 42 has been 
devised which shows the desired degree of ripeness in per 
cent acidity, number of cubic centimeters of one-tenth normal 
alkali solution required as per Mann's test and degree acidity as 
per Soxhlet-Henkel method. 

In using this table the butter maker and student should" 
bear in mind that it was devised only as a guide applicable 
and convenient under fairly normal conditions. Its value is 
limited by the fact that its figures need modification and read- 
justment under a great variety of conditions, and at best should 
be applied only to cream that is of good quality and sweet 
when it reaches the creamery and to butter intended for imme- 
diate consumption. 

Overripened Cream. — The overripening of cream is det- 
rimental to the flavor, texture and keeping quality of butter. 
In overripened cream the most favorable acid bacteria have 
gone beyond their maximum stage of activity, the excessive 
degree of acidity, their own product, is detrimental to their 
further development, they become weakened, degenerate and 
give way to other fermentations, less desirable and usually 
harmful to the flavor of the butter. 



248 



Crram Ripening 



Table 42. — Standard Per Cent Acid in Cream of Varying Rich- 
ness, Number Cubic Centimeters of N/10 Normal Alkali Solution 
Needed When 50 c.c. and 18 ex. of Cream Are Used, and Acidity 
in Terms of Degrees. 







Mann's Test. C. C. 










Decinormal Sodium 


Degrees 


of Acid 


Per Cent 


Standard 


Hydroxide Required 


Soxhlet 


Henkel 


Fat 


Per Cent 


to Neutralize 


Method 


in Cream 


Acid 
in Cream 


Acid in 








50 c. c. 


18 c. c. 


50 c. c. 


100 c. c. 






Cream 


Cream 


Cream 


Cream 


20 


.640 


35.6 


11.26 


14.2 


28.4 


21 


.632 


35.1 


11.12 


14.0 


28.1 


22 


.624 


34.7 


10.98 


13.9 


27.7 


23 


.616 


34.2 


10.84 


13.7 


27.4 


24 


.608 


33.8 


10.70 


13.5 


27.0 


25 


.600 


33.3 


10.56 


13.3 


26.7 


26 


.592 


32.9 


10.42 


13.2 


26.3 


27 


.584 


32.4 


10.28 


13.0 


26.0 


28 


.576 


32.0 


10.14 


12.8 


25.6 


29 


.568 


31.6 


10.00 


12.6 


25.2 


30 


.560 


31.1 


9.86 


12.4 


24.9 


31 


.552 


30.7 


9.72 


12.3 


245 


32 


.544 


30.2 


9.57 


12.1 


24.2 


33 


.536 


29.8 


9.43 


11.9 


23.8 


34 


528 


29.3 


9.29 


11.7 


23.5 


35 


.520 


28.8 


9.15 


11.6 


23.1 


36 


.512 


28.4 


9.01 


11.4 


22.8 


37 


.504 


28.0 


8.87 


11.2 


22.4 


38 


.496 


27.6 


8.73 


11.0 


22.0 


39 


.488 


27.1 


8.59 


10.8 


21.7 


40 


.480 


26.7 


8.45 


10.7 


21.3 



The true lactic acid bacteria of cream ripening require the 
presence of oxygen for their development, they are aerobes". 
During the process of ripening, or of changing a portion of the 
milk sugar to lactic acid, they use up most of the free oxygen 
in cream. Overripened cream is a medium practically devoid 
of free oxygen and favorable partictilarly to anaerobes, those 
species of bacteria, which thrive best in the absence of oxygen, 
and also to yeast and molds. Some of the most common of these 
anaerobic species of bacteria belong to the putrefactive type, de- 
composing the proteids and possibly splitting the fats, and gen- 



Cream Ripuninc 249 

erally producing odors and flavors detrimental to the quality of 
good butter and shortening its life. The high acid in overripened 
cream in itself accelerates the development of certain other 
classes of micro-organisms, such as the molds which demand 
an acid medium for maximum growth, and whose presence in 
butter is exceedingly objectionable. From the bacteriological 
point of view, therefore, the overripening of cream is highly 
undesirable, it deteriorates the flavor and keeping quality of 
the butter. 

Overripening does prove harmful to butter also from the 
chemical standpoint. The proteids of cream and butter are prone 
to undergo chemical changes which invite further decomposition, 
giving the butter off-flavors tending towards metallic and fishy 
flavor defects and hastening its deterioration in storage. 

For these reasons great care should be exercised in stopping 
the ripening process before it has developed too far, by promptly 
cooling the cream to 50 degrees F. or below. When facilities 
for prompt cooling are lacking, the cooling of the cream should 
be started before the desired degree of acidity is reached, mak- 
ing due allowance for additional acid development during the 
cooling process and until the cream has reached a low enough 
temperature to completely check further fermentation. 

Where cream is churned only once or twice per week, as 
is often the case in small creameries and during the months of 
small supply, it is advisable to keep all cream at a low tempera- 
ture until twenty-four hours before churning time and then raise 
the temperature for the ripening process sufficiently to com- 
plete the ripening, if the cream "must" be ripened, until about 
three hours before churning when it should be cooled to the 
churning temperature and held there. 

Methods to Determine the Desired Degree of Acidity. — 

When the cream has reached the proper degree of acidity it 
usually has a clean, mild acid flavor, pleasant to the palate. 
The viscosity of sweet cream has disappeared and the cream 
has a granular body and glistening luster. The creamy yel- 
lowish color has changed to a whitish tinge. These changes 
in body and color are due to the precipitation of the casein into 
a granular form. 



250 CrSam Ripening 

The experienced operator can usually detect the proper 
degree of ripeness by the taste and appearance of the cream. 
In order to assist him in detecting- the proper degree of ripe- 
ness he should use a convenient and accurate test to determine 
the per cent of acid, such as the Farrington Alkaline tablet 
test, the Mann's acid test or the Marshall acid test. These tests 
are based on the principle that normal solutions of alkalies neu- 
tralize equal portions of normal solutions of acids. The alkali 
usually used is sodium hydroxide with phenolphthalein as an 
indicator, which turns pink in an alkaline solution and remains 
colorless in an acid solution. For detailed directions of testing 
cream for acid see Chapter XXII on Chemical Tests and Analy- 
ses. 

Starter Ripening Instead of Cream Ripening. — ^As previ- 
ously stated, the species of lactic acid bacteria, which have been 
found the most suitable ferments and which can be used to 
advantage in cream ripening, attack exclusively the non-fatty 
constituents of cream and particularly the lactose, breaking it 
down into lactic acid. The most prominent of these species 
are Streptococcus lacticus and Bacterium lactis acidi. Since 
the non-fatty serum of the cream is very largely all washed 
out of the butter it would seem that the flavor and aroma 
developed in the serum and exclusively outside of the fat glob- 
ules would also be washed out of the butter. This, however, 
is not the case. The highly aromatic Isigny^ butter for instance 
is washed exceptionally thoroughly. The reason for this lies 
in the fact that butterfat possesses the) property of absorbing 
flavors and aromas from volatile oils and other substances. This 
property has long been recognized and is extensively made use 
of in the manufacture of perfumes. This shows that the flavor 
and aroma developed in the serum are taken up by the fat 
globules. 

From the above facts it may reasonably be assumed that 
the desired butter flavor and aroma can be acquired by their 
addition to the cream or butter, in the form of a properly ripened 
starter, in the place of the process of cream ripening. Instead 
of developing these flavors in the cream by means of the cream 



1 Isigny butter is made on the dairy farms, in the vicinity of Isigny, Nor- 
mandy, France. This butter has established an enviable reputation for fine 
flavor, and keeping quality, on the continent of Europe. 



Starters 251 

ripening process, they may be developed in the starter and 
added to the cream shortly before churning or to the butter 
before working. 

This assumption has been amply borne out in creamery 
practice. This practice has the further advantage that it shortens 
the time between receiving the cream and churning, and it mini- 
mizes the danger of chemical action of the acid on the less staple 
constituents of the cream, which action may jeopardize the flavor 
and is known to injure the keeping quality of the butter. This 
is especially true in the case of cream that is old, relatively sour 
and of poor quality. This type of cream needs no further ripen- 
ing, it is usually overripe at best but it is materially improved 
by the addition of a good starter shortly before churning and 
without further ripening. The starter serves to bring back 
and freshen up its flavor. If added to the cream, both the 
cream and starter should be cooled to near the churning tem- 
perature before mixing. Otherwise bacterial action will con- 
tinue and there is danger of overripening. If added to the 
butter the starter should be poured on the butter after washing, 
after which the butter is salted and worked. The addition and 
working into the butter of the starter after churning, is not 
recommended however, because it tends to increase the curd con- 
tent of the butter, and curd is an undesirable constituent from the 
standpoint of keeping quality. Its decomposition- or cleavage 
products are injurious to the flavor of the butter. 

STARTERS 

Definition. — As applied to buttermaking, starter is a clean- 
flavored batch of medium, usually milk or skim milk, teeming 
with lactic acid bacteria favorable for the development of a 
clean acid and an agreeable flavor. 

Purpose. — The purpose of using starter is to insure the 
flavor and aroma in butter which the market demands. As pre-' 
viously stated the American consumer has become accustomed 
to, and desires a rather high flavored butter. Sweet cream butter 
is considered flat and lacking in flavor and is not highly relished. 
In order to overcome this absence of flavor, the flavor may be 
developed in the cream by ripening or souring^ it, which is best 



252 



Starters 



done with the help of a pure culture starter, or the flavor may 
be added to the cream by adding a considerable amount of prop- 
erly ripened lactic acid starter to the cream, shortly before 
churning and without further ripening of the cream, or the 
flavor may be added by pouring over and working into the but- 
ter a considerable amount of lactic acid starter in the churn. 

Kinds of Starters. — The starters in use in butter making 
may be conveniently classified into two groups, namely: 

'^Spontaneously soured whole milk 
Spontaneously soured skim milk 



Natural starter -< 



Sour cream from previous churning 
Sour buttermilk from previous churning 
Sour whey 



Commercial or 
artificial starter 



^ Whole milk 
Skim milk 
Condensed skim milk 

rediluted 
Skim milk powder 

redissolved 



Soured by use of 
commercial culture 
'^ of lactic acid bac- 
teria 



Natural Starters. — Under favorable conditions, starters be- 
longing to this group may be used to good advantage, but as 
a whole they cannot be consistently recommended, as their source 
usually is uncertain and their purity questionable. They cannot 
be depended on for uniformly satisfactory results. This is espe- 
cially true of sour cream, buttermilk and sour whey. If the 
cream of the previous churning was at all contaminated with 
undesirable micro-organisms, the use of such cream or of the 
buttermilk thereof, might easily become the very cause of the 
propagation of harmful germ life and the development of flavors 
injurious to the quality and market value of butter, and this 
defect would be propagated from one churning to another. 

In a similar manner the use of spontaneously soured whole 
milk or skim milk might also prove detrimental, rather than 
beneficial, in most cases where the source of the raw material 
is unknown. 

Commercial or Artificial Starters. — Commercial starters are 
those, in the preparation of which a commercial, so-called pure 



Starters 253 

culture of lactic acid bacteria is used. The application of pure 
cultures of lactic acid bacteria for the ripening of cream is the 
result of extensive research by the eminent Danish investigator, 
Dr. Storch who demonstrated its value as early as 1890/ and 
later by Dr. Weigmann of Kiel, Germany. 

While these commercial lactic acid cultures are frequently 
spoken of as pure cultures, they are generally not pure cultures ; 
they consist more often of mixed cultures of several different 
species of desirable lactic acid bacteria and particularly of 
Streptococcus lacticus and Bacterium lactis acidi, occasionally 
they also contain species of yeast. 

Some of the commercial lactic acid cultures are put on 
the market in liquid form, usually in a medium of nutrient 
bouillon (beef broth), whey bouillon, or sterilized milk. Others 
are prepared in the form of a dry powder which consists of 
liquid cultures to which has been added some i powder, such 
as ground milk sugar, starch, chalk, etc., in sufficient quan- 
tities to absorb the excess moisture. • 

The liquid cultures have the advantage of greater purity, 
but must be used within a few days of their preparation. Old 
liquid cultures have usually lost their virulence and are 
worthless. 

The dry or powdered cultures are commercially more prac- 
tical, inasmuch as the bacteria they contain, retain their viru- 
lence for a reasonable period of time. They are therefore 
adapted to transportation to distant destinations. Their keep- 
ing quality is by no means unlimited, however, they cannot 
be held over from one season to another, but should be used 
within a few weeks of their preparation. They are somewhat 
slower in regaining their activity, than the liquid cultures and 
require several propagations before they can be depended on 
to produce a usable starter. One of the most serious disadvan- 
tages of the dry starter cultures lies in the fact that they are 
seldom really pure, and quite often they are seriously con- 
taminated with other and frequently undesirable micro-organ- 
isms. The contamination is due, in part, to the bacterial im- 
purities in their absorptiAC medium and partly to the often 



1 Eighteenth Annual Report, Danish Experiment Station, 1890. 



254 



Starters 



very careless handling in their preparation and packing" at the 
hands of employees who fail to realize the full significance 
of aseptic conditions. Owing to the prevalence of these sources 
of contamination the use of these dry cultures occasionally 
becomes the cause of serious butter defects. 

Classification of Commercial Starter Cultures. 

'"Boston butter 



r 



Commercial 
starter 
cultures 



Liquid 
cultures S 



O. Douglass. 
Boston, Mass. 



Dry 
cultures S 



Keith, 
Boston, Mass. 

Elov Ericsson, 
St. Paul, Minn. 

rChris. Hansen, 
Little Falls, 
N. Y. 

Elov Ericsson, 
St. Paul, Minn. 

Park Davis & 
Co, 
Detroit, Mich. 

Eli Lilly, 
Indianapolis, 
Ind. 



culture 
-l Duplex culture 
Lactic acid 
(^ culture 



Boston butter 
culture 

Ericsson's but- 
ter culture 



Lactic ferment 



Ericsson's but- 
ter culture 



Flavorone 



Lactic acid 
culture 



Mother Starter or Startoline. — In order to revive the desir- 
able germs in the commercial starter culture and to avoid the 
addition of the often malodorous and stale medium of the com- 
mercial culture direct to the milk which becomes the starter, 
it has been found necessary to inoculate the commercial culture 
into a small amount of milk and make several propagations 



Starters 255 

(usually two to three) before the culture is transferred to the 
regular starter milk. This is called the startoline or mother 
starter. 

In order to keep the starter in uniformly active and pure 
condition it is necessary to propagate several jars (4 to 6) of 
mother starter continuously from day to day, as the conditions 
which are essential to preserve the starter can be more readily 
controlled in the case of the mother starter in small jars than 
in the '"big" starter in the vat or starter can. 

In the successful propagation of startoline, cleanliness in 
all operations, good quality of properly pasteurized milk or 
skim milk, protection from contamination after inoculation, and 
proper control of temperature are of the greatest importance. 

Use the best milk or skim milk available ; be sure that it 
has been thoroughly heated to at least 180 degrees F. or higher 
and held at that temperature at least thirty minutes. Use only 
jars and other apparatus such as thermometers, spoons, dip- 
pers, etc. that are perfectly clean and as nearly sterile as is 
possible to make and keep them under reasonably sanitary 
factory conditions. Do not touch with the fingers the commer- 
cial culture nor the startoline but transfer it direct from the 
original bottle into the jar containing the pasteurized and cooled 
milk. Keep the startoline jars closed, so as to guard against 
contamination from the dust in the air. Maintain a uniform 
temperature of about 6S to 75 degrees F, according to season 
of year. During the hot season use the lower and during the 
cold season the higher temperature. 

Good mother starter demands systematic work and scrupu- 
lous attention to details and in order to make this possible and 
to economize time, some suitable equipment should be pro- 
vided which is available and used for this purpose only. The 
following simple and inexpensive equipment has been found 
most serviceable for the preparation of mother starter: 

Equipment for Preparation of Mother Starter. 

1. One galvanized iron box for sterilizing quart jars, dip- 
pers, thermometers, spoons, etc., size preferably 13 inches long, 
8^ inches wide, 8^ inches deep. 



256 



Starters 



2. Twelve, one quart fruit jars with lids. 

3. One insulated box, metal lined, with drain hole and in- 
sulated cover, size preferably 15 inches long, 10 in. wide, 10 in. 
deep. 

4. One dairy thermometer with holder. 

5. One dessert spoon. 

6. One long handled one pint dipper with lip. 




Fig". 36. Electric incubator for the preparation of startoline 

Courtesy Mojonnier Bros. Co. 

For creameries operating on a large scale, special incubators 
and other equipment, manufactured and placed on the market, 
with detailed directions for installation and use by reliable milk 
products equipment manufacturing firms greatly facilitate the 
work and enhance uniformity of results. 

First Propagation. — Fill a clean and properly scalded quart 
jar two-thirds full of milk or skim milk. Pasteurize at 180° F. 
or above and hold for not less than 30 minutes. Time may be 
saved by heating the milk before the jar is filled, then fill the jar 
with the hot milk and set it in hot water at 180° F. for 30 minutes. 



Starters 257 

Or the startoHne milk may be taken from the milk pasteurizer, 
held and cooled in the starter vat or starter can. Cool to 70° F. 
and pour the contents of the bottle containing the commercial 
starter culture into it, stir thoroughly and let stand at a tem- 
perature of 80° F., or according- to special directions furnished 
by the manufacturer of the starter culture, until sour and curdled. 
This usually requires about 24 hours. The seal of the bottle 
containing the starter culture should not. be broken until just 
before the culture is used. 

Second Propagation. — Wash six one-quart fruit jars and lids 
thoroughly clean, rinse them and submerge them in boiling hot 
water, temperature 200° F. or above, in the galvanized iron box. 

Pull the six quart jars out of the hot water box, scald the 
clean dipper by dipping it into the hot water in the galvanized 
iron box and fill the still hot fruit jars two-thirds full with 
pasteurized milk from the starter vat, and cool to 75° F. or 
lower according to season. Take the lids out of the hot water 
box and place them on the jars. 

Now open the jar containing the first propagation. With 
the dessert spoon skim oft' the top inch, having first dipped the 
spoon into the boiling-hot water. Place the lid on this jar again 
and shake thoroughly to break up the curd and until the con- 
tents are smooth. Again scald the spoon in the hot water and 
transfer one spoonful of the startoline of the first propagation 
into each of the six quart jars containing the pasteurized and 
cooled milk for the second propagation. Seal these jars, and 
hold them in the insulated box at about 75° F. until sour and 
curdled. 

Third Propagation. — The next day again prepare and scald 
six one-quart jars as directed under the "second propagation." 
Fill them with freshly pasteurized milk from the starter vat; 
cool to about 75° F. or below, according to season. Take 
their lids out of the hot water box and place them on the filled 
jars. 

Now line up the six mother starter jars of the second 
propagation. Open one at a time, dip the spoon in scalding-hot 
water and remove the top inch of milk from each jar, dipping 
the spoon into hot water after skimming each jar. Seal these 



258 Starters 

jars again with their respective covers and shake each jar until 
contents are smooth. Then taste the mother starter of each jar, 
using the spoon and always dipping the spoon in hot water for 
each jar. 

Select the jar the contents of which have the cleanest and 
best flavor and transfer with the scalded spoon, one spoonful of 
its contents into each of the six jars containing the freshly pas- 
teurized 'Startoline milk. Seal the jars of the third propagation 
and place them in the insulated box. In hot weather it may 
be advisable to pour enough tap water (temperature 50 to 60° 
F.) into the insulated box to have the jars stand in about two 
inches, of water. This will help to control the temperature. 
Close the insulated box. 

The next morning, examine the jars without removing their 
lids. If the milk in them is coagulated, place the jars im- 
mediately into the cold room, or preferably into ice water until 
ready to use. If the milk shows no signs of coagulation, raise 
the temperature to at least 75*^ F. and hold until coagulated; 
then set in cold water until ready to use. If after a few hours 
at 75° a satisfactory coagulum does not form, reject the contents 
of the jar. 

Succeeding Propagations. — The succeeding propagations are 
made in exactly the same manner as directed for the third 
propagation. All the mother starter that is of good quality and 
that is not used for inoculation into jars is then utilized for 
the inoculation of the "big" starter in the starter vat or starter 
can. 

The amount of mother starter used to inoculate fresh mother 
starter milk in the jars, and the temperature at which the mother 
starter is held, should be such that in 12 to 18 hours a nice, 
smooth and soft coagulum forms on the jars, without the ap- 
pearance of wheyed-ofif water. The better, purer and more 
active the startoline, the less startoline need be used. One dessert 
spoonful per jar is ample in the case of good startoline. If the 
holding of the jars at 75° F. causes the curd the next morning 
to be too firm and possibly to whey-off and to be too high in acid, 



Starters 259 

the temperature should be lowered until a temperature is found 
that will control the fermentation sufficiently to prevent over- 
ripening and yet to produce the desired coagulum. The acid in 
good active startoline usually is .8 to .9 per cent. It is not prac- 
tical, nor feasible, to prescribe an exact temperature that would 
apply everywhere, and at all times of the year. The operator 
must use his own judgment and be guided by his results from 
day to day. 

The directions above given for the preparation and propaga- 
tion of mother starter, accompanied by proper modifications of 
temperature at which the jars are incubated, according to weather 
and factory conditions, will yield a uniformly good quality of 
startoline and the results can be depended pn from day to day. 
By the above method, propagations from one and the same 
culture can be carried on almost indefinitely and the startoline 
often improves in quality and activity as the number of transfers 
increases. If the directions on sterilizing all apparatus are con- 
scientiously followed, the;, startoline will have no gas holes. If 
the temperature is adjusted and controlled properly, there will 
always be active acid production and good body. Without these 
precautions, neither the startoline nor the starter can be depended 
on to be of good quality from day to day, and the startoline has 
to be renewed often by a new commercial culture. 

Directions for Making Commercial Starter. 

Good quality of milk, sterility of all utensils and proper 
temperature control are all important The absence of any one 
of these essentials ultimately means poor starter. 

Good Quality of Milk. — Good quality of milk is all essential 
for good starter of a sharp, clean acid, such as is desired for 
the best results, although efficient pasteurization will assist in 
minimizing defects of the raw material. However, a really good 
starter cannot be made unless the milk w^hich is used is clean 
and fresh. Fresh, sweet whole milk purchased direct from dairy 
farms on which a high standard of sanitary production prevails, 
generally yields the most satisfactory starter, both as to quality 
and economy of manufacture. Skim milk, if of good quality, 
is also suitable for this purpose, but often proves somewhat 



260 Starters 

more expensive. Condensed milk and milk powder, though 
serviceable in the absence of whole milk and skim milk, are 
not as satisfactory media for starter making. Under favorable 
conditions they may yield reasonably satisfactory results, but 
cjuite often their use conveys to butter a distinct ofif-flavor. Skim 
milk powder deteriorates with age, it should therefore, be reason- 
ably fresh when used. 

Whole Milk from Farmers. — ^The best quality of starter milk 
is usually secured where the milk is delivered or shipped direct 
by the farmer to the factory. Every effort should be made to 
arrange for such milk supply direct from the farmer. 

Upon arrival the milk should be graded for quality and 
tested for fat and with the lactometer. Milk that has an un- 
clean flavor, or that tests more than .2% acid, or that shows 
a lactometer reading of less than 29 points at 60° F. should not 
be accepted for starter milk. 

Special attention should be given the cans returned to the 
farmers. These cans must be free from rust. They must be 
washed, rinsed, steamed and dried properly, so that they are 
perfectly clean, dry and sweet-smelling. The farmer should not 
be allowed to take back buttermilk in the cans in which he 
furnishes the milk for starter making. If he wants buttermilk, 
he should use a separate set of cans for it. The cans for the 
sweet milk must be returned to him empty, clean and dry. 

Skim Milk or Whole Milk from Milk Products Factories. — 

Milk or skim milk purchased from ice cream plants or other 
milk products factories is usually of poor quality, it is often 
high in acid and frequently contains undesirable off-flavors. If 
secured from these sources, each can should be carefully in- 
spected and it should be clearly understood by the party sel- 
ling, that milk that is stale, high in acid, off in flavor, or con- 
tains preservatives, or extraneous water, will be rejected. 

The milk must be delivered in cans that are free from rust 
and clean. If the factory from which this milk is purchased 
furnishes the cans, the plant should be visited to make sure that 
the cans are in satisfactory condition when they are filled with 
the milk or skim milk. 



Starters 261 

Milk, and skim milk purchased in this manner, should be 
tested with the lactometer. At 60° F. normal whole milk varies 
between 29 and 35 lactometer degrees, and normal skim milk 
varies between 36 and 38 lactometer degrees. If whole milk 
drops below 29 and skim milk drops below 36 lactometer degrees 
it may reasonably be suspected that they have been watered. If 
whole milk rises above 35 lactometer degrees it has been skim- 
med. If skim milk rises above 38 lactometer degrees it has been 
adulterated with some foreign substance, other than water. 

Condensed Milk.- — If condensed milk is to be used, purchase 
plain condensed bulk milk, skimmed. Ask for a concentration 
of four to one. Dilute with three gallons of water for each 
gallon of condensed milk. Pour the water into the starter vat 
first, start the coils without heat and add the condensed milk. 
Mix well, and pasteurize as usual. If the condensery is not in 
position to furnish condensed milk with a concentration of 4:1, 
secure what they can furnish, and ask them for the ratio of 
concentration and dilute as follows for milk with different con- 
centrations : 

Gallons 
Concentration Gallons Water Condensed Milk 
4 :1 3 1 

3f:l 2f 1 

3^:1 2i 1 

3i:l 2i 1 

3 :1 2 1 

Skim Milk Powder. — Dissolve at the rate of one pound of 
powder to nine pounds of water. 

Attach two small wooden slats, similar to lath, to the coil 
on its periphery on opposite sides. The slats should be long 
enough to reach from one end of the coil to the other. They will 
help to beat up the lumps and to mix and dissolve the powder. 
These slats are best fastened to the coil by means of "IJ" bolts. 
There are some vats on the market, originally intended for use 
in preparing the mix in ice cream factories, the coil of which 
is equipped with metal slats, running lengthwise. These vats 
are ideal for this purpose. Then pour the water, cold or luke 
warm, into the vat, and add the skim milk powder. Avoid pour- 



262 Starters 

ing the powder over the sides of the vat and on the coil as it 
tends to stick and cake upon heating. Start revolving the coil 
and turn the heat on. Pasteurize as usual. 

Preparation of Starter Milk. — Heat the milk, skim milk, or 
the diluted condensed milk, or the dissolved skim milk powder 
to 180° F. or higher, hold for one hour and cool to 75° F. or 
lower, according to season. Keep covers down while cooling. 
Now add the startoline. Two quarts of good startoline is suf- 
ficient for 200 gallons of milk. If the startoline is not in good 
active condition, larger quantities are necessary. Agitate with 
coil, cover down, for ten minutes. In hot weather, it may be 
advisable to allow a small stream of water to run through the 
coil in the vat or through the jacket in the starter can, over 
night, in order to prevent the temperature from rising too high. 
In this case the valve in the water pipe should be open just a 
"crack." 

The next morning, examine the starter. AVith a proi)erly 
scalded dipper, dip out some and test for acidity. If a nice 
smooth coagulum has formed and the acidity is about .8% or 
slightly over, cool at once to 50° F. or below and draw the 
starter off, adding it to the cream as needed. If the starter is 
not needed for several hours, but the starter vat or can must be 
vacated for the preparation of the next batch, draw the starter 
off into clean, steamed and dried shipping cans and set them in 
the cooler, so as to avoid further fermentation. 

When the vat is empty, rinse it, wash it clean with wash- 
ing powder and hot water, rinse, and steam thoroughly Avith 
cover down. Fill with new batch of starter milk, pasteurize at 
180° F. or above, hold for one hour, cool to about 75° F. or lower, 
according to season and add startoline as directed for previ- 
ous day. A good starter has an acidity of about .8 to .9%, it 
is clean, fairly sharp and has a smooth, soft curd that shakes 
down readily and that is free from gas holes. 

Equipment for Making Commercial Starter: 

Where only a small amount of starter is needed, the milk 
may be heated in ten gallon milk cans by setting the cans in 
a vat containing boiling hot water. For larger quantities of 
starter milk special equipment is desirable. The circular starter 



Starters 



263 



can, with the insulated water jacket on the outside and the re- 
volving agitator on the inside, has been found very convenient 
for this purpose and is in general use in many creameries. The 
chief objection to these starter cans is that the agitation of the 
relatively great volume of milk is not sufficient at the periphery 
to keep the milk from baking onto the heating surface. This 
makes thorough cleaning exceedingly difficult and laborious and 
it invites the application of agents which remove the tin as well 
as the remnants of milk from the copper lining. 

For creameries with a 
large make the circular 
starter can is too small. 
They generally use standard 
cream ripening vats with 
disc or coil agitator and with 
cover, as their receptacle for 
starter making. Easy con- 
trol of temperature is es- 
sential. 

As a whole, copper- 
lined starter cans or starter- 
\ats are objectionable. The 
tin coating on the copper 
soon wears off, exposing the 
copper surface This invites 
action of the acid in the 
starter on the copper, yield- 
ing metallic salts which are distinctly injurious to the quality 
of the cream and butter, enhancing decomposition which 
jeeopardizes the flavor and keeping quality of the butter, and 
leading to the development of such butter defects as metallic 
flavor, tallowy flavor, fishy flavor, etc. If tinned, copper-lined 
starter cans and vats are used, they should be retinned as soon 
as they show any considerable area of exposed copper. The 
use of glass-enameled starter vats cannot be too highly recom- 
mended as the most suitable equipment for starter making. 




Fig'. 37. Truuion starter can 
Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 



264 



Starters 




Fig*. 38. Glass-enameled starter tank 

Courtesy Elyria Enameled Products Co. 

The Proper Degree of Ripeness. — At the time when the 
starter milk begins to be sour to the taste, but has not reached 
the coagulating- point, it usually has a peculiarly disagreeable 
odor and flavor. This is explained to be due to the activity of 
other micro-organisms aside from the lactic acid species in- 
oculated. Later, w^hen the acid is more pronounced and the 
milk is at the point of curdling, this disagreeable flavor and 
aroma generally disappear, the lactic acid species of bacteria 
having gained the ascendancy, holding the other species in check. 

If the starter v\'ere therefore used in the early stage of 
acid development and before the battle of species for the survival 
of the fittest had been decided in favor of the lactic acid 
organisms, the starter would fail to lend to the cream and the 
resulting butter the flavor for which it is used. It is important, 
therefore, to permit the starter to develop until the maximum 
number and activity of lactic acid bacteria are secured, which is 
the case usually at the point when the milk commences to curdle. 



Starters 



265 



On the other hand, it is equally undesirable to carry the 
souring process toO' far. After the casein is coagulated the lactic 
acid bacteria seem to lose their maximum efficiency as acid 
producers, they weaken, become inactive or degenerate and 
permit other species to gain the ascendancy. The starter loses 
its fine flavor and its snap, yeasty fermentations and casein- 
digesting changes set in, which make the starter unfit and un- 
safe for use. It is generally conceded that .80 to .90 per cent 
acid represents the maximum acidity to which it is safe to allow 
starter to ripen when ordinary commercial cultures of lactic 
acid bacteria are used. This does not necessarily hold good 
with cultures of Bacillus bulgaricus. This organism is capable 
of developing a much higher acid without degenerating and 
without depreciating the aroma and flavor of the cream. Bacil- 
lus bulgaricus has not as yet been thoroughly tried out in con- 
nection with cream ripening and its desirability as a starter 
organism is as yet undetermined. 

Amount of Starter to Use. — For directions concerning the 
proper amount of starter to add to cream the reader is referred 
to the chapter on Cream Ripening. 

Scoring the Starter. — «In order to express the (luality of the 
starter, aside from the per cent of acid it contains, in more con- 
crete terms, it is desirable to use a figure scale, or score card. 
This is especially desirable for the use of the student and for 
experimental data. The following score card is recommended 
for this purpose : 

STARTER SCORE CARD 



Name. 



Date, 





Score 


Description 




Perfect| Actual 




Aroma . . . . 
Flavor . . . . 

Body 

Acid 


20 1 
40 1 

20 1 
20 1 


Clean, pronounced, pleasant, no taints 
Clean, pronounced, snappy, free from yeasty, 

cheesy, curdy and other off-flavors 
Smooth, soft, creamy, no gas holes, no whey 
.8 to .9% acid 


Total 


100 1 





266 Churning 

Chapte;r X. 

CHURNING. 

Object of Chuming,^ — -The object of churning- is to separate 
the butterfat from the caseous and serous parts of the milk or 
cream, to make butter. This is accomplished by the formation 
of butter granules. 

Philosophy of Churning. — The formation of butter granules 
is brought about by the crystallization or solidification of the 
fat in the fat globules and by coalescence of the wholly or 
partly solidified fat globules into butter granules. 

Milk and Cream an Emulsion. — In freshly drawn milk the 
fat is present in the form of minute globules of liquid fat. These 
fat globules are emulsified in a watery mixture of hydrated col- 
loid — the skim milk. An emulsion, in this case, is a mixture 
of two liquids which are insoluble in each other, where one is 
suspended in the other in the form of minute globules. Milk 
then represents an emulsion of fat-in-skim milk, the fat rep- 
resenting the divided or dispersed phase, and the skim milk 
the continuous or dispersing phase of the emulsion. As long 
as this emulsion remains intact, there can be no formation of 
butter granules. Butter does not form. 

The establishment of this emulsion of fat-in-skim milk is 
the direct result of the process of milk secretion. When milk 
is secreted, nature places the fat, which is liberated by the 
metabolic activity of the cells which line the alveoli, into the 
skim milk in the form of very finely divided particles. 

Fischer and Hooker^ who made an extensive study of fatty 
secretions and fatty emulsions, considering the phenomena of 
milk secretion from the standpoint of the pathologist, speak 
of the secretion of butterfat as a fatty degeneration of the cells 
in the alveoli. "The originally cubical cells v/hich make up 
the alveoli of an active mammary gland become richer in water 
and filled with granules (cloudy swelling), while the fat in 
the cells runs together into more readily visible droplets (fatty 
degeneration). When this process of cloudy swelling with fat 



1 Martin H. Fischer and Marion O. Hooker, Fats and Fatty Degeneration, 
1917. 



Churning 



267 



Fat Globules in Milk, Cream, Skimmilk and Buttermilk 
Magnification 740. 



- c cO^^r, . 


^ "Of c < 






. -.9 ■ 






Fig-. 39. Milk 



Figr. 40. Cream 




g?" ■- -.•- '^ 


^-^T^'M Jk 


m^--/ 11 






v>. 


F^a^H^^^^H 


^ o 


^1. 




^^B^^^^a 




^P^H 



Fig*. 41. Skim mfflc Tig. 42. Bnttetmllk 

coalescence becomes sufficiently great, the cell bursts and a 
fluid mixture of hydrated colloid (meaning the skim milk), con- 
taining the fat globules, results. This is milk." 

It is obvious from the above discussion that the fine divi- 
sion and uniform distribution of the fat in the milk, or the fat- 
in-skim milk emulsion, is the handiwork of nature. In this 
finely divided state the fat is most accessible to the digestive 
juices, facilitating digestion by the young, . who depend on 
milk as their exclusive food and whose delicate digestive or- 
gans are not prepared to deal with solid masses of fat. 



268 Churning 

Permanency of Fat-in-Skimmilk Emulsion. — This emul- 
sion, established by the secretion of the milk, is fairly per- 
manent. The question here consistently arises: What causes 
these fat globules to remain divided, what hinders them from 
running together like oil? 

Earlier investigators claimed that each fat globule was 
surrounded by a definite membrane. This was a mere assump- 
tion which proved erroneous. The presence of such a membrane 
has never been satisfactorily established. Later study failed to 
demonstrate its existence and yielded substantial evidence that 
such a membrane does not exist. The only envelope that sur- 
rounds the fat globules in milk is the skim milk in which they 
are suspended. 

The forces that make it possible for the minute fat globules 
to retain their identity as single units and that prevent them from 
running together, are the difference in the surface tension be- 
tween the fat globules and the skim milk, adsorption and the 
viscosity of the milk. 

Surface Tension. — The fat globules stay apart, they retain 
•their individuality, they do not run together, primarily because 
of the law of surface tension. By surface tension is under- 
stood the attraction which the molecules of one and the same 
substance have for each other. The molecules which are located 
in the surface of a liquid, are attracted toward the interior of 
the liquid by the molecules situated there, but there is no 
similar attraction towards the exterior, because the molecules in 
the interior of a liquid are subject to attraction from all sides. 
The tension thus produced on the surface by this molecular at- 
traction towards the interior is called the surface tension. It 
obviously conveys to the surface the tendency to become re- 
duced to the smallest possible dimensions. Hence, if a liquid 
is placed in a position, where it is not affected by gravity, the 
form of the liquid changes until it assumes the smallest possible 
surface for a given volume. And this is the sphere. 

In the case of milk, in the secretion of which nature has 
placed the fat in finely divided particles, the fat possesses a greater 
surface tension than the surrounding skim milk. The minute 



Churning 269 

units of fat, therefore, retain their identity and individuality and, 
because of the surface tension, they are present in the form of 
round globules. 

Adsorption and Viscosity. — The ability of the fat globules 
in milk and cream, to retain their individuality is further assisted 
by the law of adsorption and by the viscosity of the milk. 

By adsorption, in the sense here used, is meant the some- 
what greater concentration in the surface layer of the fat 
globules of the skim milk^ than the concentration of the re- 
mainder of the surrounding skim milk. This concentration of 
the skim milk on the surface layer of the fat globules assists 
in maintaining their internal cohesion and in diminishing the 
power of adhesion between fat globules. It tends to convey 
to the individual fat globules greater stability. 

Finally, the permanency of the emulsion of the fat globules 
in milk is enhanced by the natural viscosity of the skim milk, 
caused by the presence of such colloids as albumen and casein, 
and of milk sugar. 

Effect of Cream Separation. — When cream is separated 
these phenomena do not materially change, they remain funda- 
mentally the same. Cream still represents an emulsion of fat- 
in-skim milk. The composition of the non-fatty serum in cream 
is similar to that of milk and the difference in the surface ten- 
sion between the fat globules and the cream serum remains 
the same. There is merely a larger aggregation of fat globules 
in a smaller volume of skim milk. 

Effect of Cooling of Cream. — When cream is cooled, pre- 
paratory to churning, the fat in the fat globules wholly or partly 
solidifies. This enhances the internal power of cohesion in the 
fat globules and increases the power of adhesion between fat 
globules, offsetting and completely overcoming the effect of 
the surface tension of the fat globules. If cream were not cooled 
sufficiently to partly or wholly solidify the fat, the churning 
would result in a finer division of the fat globules. 

Effect of Agitation in Churn. — When this cooled cream, 
with the partly, or wholly solidified fat globules is subsequently 
subjected to the agitation and concussion generated in the re- 



270 Churning 

volving churn, the increased power of adhesion enables the 
partly or wholly solidified fat globules to unite, forming butter 
granules. 

Increase in Size of Butter Granules. — This union of fat 
globules and formation of butter granules proceeds in geometric 
progression. While it commences as soon as the churn starts 
revolving, the process of uniting at first is slow and the change 
is imperceptible. The minute size of the fat globules retards 
their opportunity for collision with and adhesion to one-another 
and the butter granules resulting from these early adhesions 
are microscopic in size. The average fat globule measures about 
3/1000 of one millimeter or about 1/10,000 of one inch in diam- 
eter. The sum of two fat globules forming one butter granule, 
therefore, also is extremely small. But, as the churning process 
progresses, the butter granules form more rapidly and grow 
in size more rapidly. The larger they grow the more rapidly 
they increase in size with each successive adhesion. 

Why Cream Thickens in the Churn. — As the churning 
process proceeds, the cream begins to thicken and continues to 
thicken, until it assumes marked rigidity, practically assuming 
maintenance of form. This thickening is due in part to the 
increased size of the still microscopic or semi-microscopic but- 
ter granules. These larger granules ofifer more internal friction 
and hold the serum in a mash-like emulsion. Up to a certain 
point, the larger these microscopic granules the thicker and 
more rigid the cream. 

The thickening of the cream during the early part of the 
churning process is also due, in a large measure, to the profuse 
incorporation of air in this viscous, cold cream. The cream 
whips. The air so incorporated and the rigid character of the 
cream which the minutely divided air helps to bring about, 
have a very marked retarding efifect on the churning process, 
greatly minimizing the concussion to which the fat globules are 
subjected, and making it difficult for them to find each other 
and to strike each other with sufficient force to coalesce to one 



Churning 271 

another. If it were not for the obstructing presence in the cream 
of this air, cream would churn more rapidly. It is obvious that 
in a vacuum, or under reduced pressure, the churning process 
would occupy much less time. 

Since it is during the churning process and not during the 
working process, that the bulk of the air found in the finished 
butter, is incorporated, and since the presence of air in butter 
represents an active agent of butter-deterioration, churning in 
vacuo, aside from grealy reducing the churning period and in- 
creasing the capacity of the creamery, would tend to exert a 
markedly favorable effect on the keeping quality of the butter. 

Under certain conditions, which render cream excessively 
viscous, such as is the case in cream from stripper cows, or 
very cold cream, or cream that has undergone ropy-milk fermen- 
tation, the churning process is very much prolonged and fre- 
quently it does not reach the breaking point at all, because 
of the air-holding and whipping properties of the abnormal 
viscosity of such cream. For this same reason, any agency, or 
condition that reduces the viscosity, hastens the churning pro- 
cess. Thus, sour cream churns more quickly than sweet cream, 
the acid destroying the viscosity and the whipping power of the 
cream. Cream from cows which have been in milk for a short 
time only churns more rapidly than cream from stripper cows, 
because the former is more fluid and less viscous. At a higih 
churning temperature, provided that the temperature remains 
below the melting point of fat, cream churns quicker than at 
a low temperature, because a rise in the temperature increases 
the fluidity of the cream. 

In this stiff and rigid cream the emulsion of fat-in-skim 
milk is still intact. 

Why Butter "Breaks" Suddenly. — As the butter granules 
become larger in size in the thickened cream, a point is reached, 
where the surface of the butter granules becomes so small in 
proportion to their cubic contents, that the fat-in-skim milk 
emulsion can no longer be sustained, the emulsion is broken. 



272 



Churning 



The skim milk (now called buttermilk), in excess of that por- 
tion that is incorporated in, or adheres to, the surface of the 
butter granules, recedes and "wheys off," the butter granules 
separate out, and the butter "breaks." This point is reached 
after the majority of the butter granules have outgrown their 
original microscopic size and have become large enough to be 
readily visible to the naked eye. 






^i 






<> ■ % '. 



Plgf. 43. Water droplets In bntter, macrnification 740 



With the "breaking" of the butter, the emulsion changes 
from a fat-in-skim milk emulsion as represented by the cream, 
to a buttermilk-in-fat emulsion, as is represented by the butter. 
The fat globules cease to exist as units. Butter is a mass of 
butterfat into which have been emulsified small divided units, 
or droplets, of buttermilk. Butter represents an emulsion in 
which the fat is the continuous phase and the hydrated colloid 
or buttermilk the divided or dispersed phase. 

While, under normal conditions of churning, the churning 
process occupies from about 40 to 60 minutes, the actual "break- 
ing"of butter happens with almost instantaneous suddenness. 



Churning 273 

The reason for this is obvious. As previously explained, the 
increase in the size of the butter granules during the early 
stages of the churning process is slow, due to the small initial size 
of the fat globules and to the obstructing foam. Numerous pro- 
gressive steps of adhesion between fat globules and later be- 
tween butter granules are necessary before the breaking point 
is reached. This requires time, and yet, during all this time 
there is no visible sign of butter formation. 

Just before the breaking point the contents of the churn 
are still cream. But the butter granules, though still invisible 
to the naked eye, have reached the maximum size at which 
their reduced surfaces are still capable of sustaining their 
emulsion with the skim milk in the form of cream. One more 
union between each two of these relatively large butter granules, 
causing the granules to be twice of this already relatively large 
size, may break the emulsion, the resulting granules being too 
large and their surfaces too small to still sustain their emulsion 
in the skim milk of the cream. The result is that the skim 
milk immediately breaks away from the butter granules and the 
butter "breaks," and we have masses of butter granules on the 
one hand and buttermilk on the other. 

The suddenness of the "breaking of the butter is further 
intensified by the fact, that the relatively large size of the still 
emulsified butter granules in the cream just before the breaking 
point, facilitates the coalescence, or adhesion, of these granules 
in the cream. The larger the granules before the breaking point, 
the more easily they find each other, the more readily they col- 
lide, and the accelerated force of impact between these larger 
granules increases their power of adhesion. When they collide 
they stick together. Simultaneous with the break of the tension 
of the fat-in-skim milk emulsion, much of the incorporated air 
also is liberated, further quickening the breaking of the emulsion. 
Hence, when this critical point is reached, one or a few more 
revolutions of the churn suddenly transforms the emulsion of 
cream into solid butter and fluid buttermilk. The butter "breaks" 
abruptly. 

The foregoing discussion makes it clear that the churning 
process resolves itself into a change from a fat-in-skim milk 



274 Churning 

emulsion, such as exists in milk and cream, into a buttermilk-in- 
fat emulsion, such as exists in butter. This transformation of 
emulsions, or of cream into butter, is brought about funda- 
mentally by solidification of the fat globules and by subsequent 
coalescence of the solidified fat globules, forming butter granules, 
and by progresive adhesion or uniting of the butter granules. 

Solidification. — The solidification of the fat globules is caused 
by low temperature and concussion. 

The solidifying point of butterfat, like the melting point, is 
not constant. It varies particularly with the chemical composi* 
tion of the butterfat. Thus the fats of the harder glycerides, such 
as the myristin, stearin and palmitin, have a higher solidifying 
point than the fats of the softer glycerides, such as the fats 
of the volatile fatty acids and the olein. Hence the solidifying 
point fluctuates according to the relative proportion of these 
several fats in the mixed fat. 

At the temperature of the animal body, 98° to 100° F., but- 
terfat is liquid. At ordinary temperatures (room temperature) 
butterfat contains both solid and liquid elements. By lowering 
the temperature, fractional crystallization of the butterfat is ef- 
fected, the harder glycerides crystallizing first. As the tem- 
perature drops, more of the softer glycerides begin to crystallize. 
The extreme range of the solidifying point of the mixed butter- 
fat lies between about 15. .S degrees C. to 30 degrees C. (60 to 
80 degrees F.) Under normal conditions the range of tem- 
perature is confined to much narrower limits, not falling below 
about 18 degrees C. nor exceeding 24 degrees C. (65 to 75 degrees 
F.) and averaging about 21 degrees C. (70 degrees F.). 

In order for the fat globules to form butter granules, it is 
necessary therefore, to lower the temperature of the cream suf- 
ficiently to insure solidification of the fat in the fat globules. 
The reason why the churning temperature of the cream must be 
dropped below the minimum temperature at which the mixed 
fat solidifies, must be attributed in part at least to the fact, that 
mere solidification, while it causes the cream to churn, does not 
necessarily give the butter granules the desired firmness. Lower 
temperatures are needed to render the butter granules sufficiently 



Churning 275 

firm to insure exhaustive churning- and to produce butter with 
good body, and free from leakiness and excessive moisture. 

Recent experiments by fiunziker and Hosman have revealed 
the fact that mixed butterfat has more than one soHdifying point. 
It appears that even in the cooling of the cream the mixed but- 
terfat does not solidify all at one temperature, but that fractional 
solidification takes place, the high melting-point fats solidifying 
first. These findings further explain why it is necessary to cool the 
cream to a temperature materially below that of the solidifying 
point of the mixed butterfat, if a firm bodied butter is to be 
secured. The temperature must be low enough to also cause the 
solidification of the lower-melting point fats, particularly the 
olein. In fact it is at this point, it is in the cream vat, that the 
body of the butter is determined. If the cream has never been 
exposed to a temperature low enough to solidify all the butterfat, 
the butter tends to have a weak and slushy body that does not 
stand up well under unfavorable temperature conditions. In a 
warm room it is prone to soften quickly, because some of its fat 
constituents have not been properly solidified, they still are in 
fluid, or semi-fluid, condition and cause the butter to become soft 
and lose its shape even at temperatures below the melting-point of 
butter. On the other hand, if the cream, at least once between the 
processes of pasteurization and of churning, has been cooled 
sufficiently to completely solidify all the butterfat, the butter 
made from such cream will have a good body that will hold 
up well, even under unfavorable temperature conditions. In 
this case the butter has to be warmed to near the melting point, 
before it will show signs of appreciable softening. And even 
a considerable rise in the churning temperature of such cream 
above that desired will not materially reduce the firmness and 
standing"-up properties of the butter made therefrom. 

Aside from the churning temperature the solidification of 
the fat globules is enhanced by subjecting them to vigorous con- 
cussion. The agitation which the cream receives in the churn, 
furnishes this concussion and therefore further hastens the solidi- 
fication of the fat globules. 



276 Churning 

Coalescence. — Coalescence is the second necessary factor for 
the formation of butter granules By coalescence is meant the 
uniting and adhering together of the fat globules and biitter 
granules. The power of the fat globules to coalesce is largely 
determined by the extent of solidification and the amount of con- 
cussion. It is also affected by the size of the fat globule^^ by 
adsorption and by the viscosity of the cream. 

In liquid form the fat globules cannot coalesce to the extent 
of forming butter granules. In v. arm cream set at rest they may 
run together, "oiling off" and forming a continuous layer of oil. 
In cream at any temperature not low enough to cause solidifica- 
tion or partial solidification of the fat, when subjected to agita- 
tion such as is produced in the revolving churn, the fat globules, 
instead of coalescing tend to diminish in size, due to the effect 
of their surface tension, adsorption and the viscosity of the 
cream. For this reason cream does not churn out, and but- 
ter granules do not form when the temperature is too high to 
effect at least partial solidification. 

On the other hand, coalescence and the formation of butter 
granules is greatly delayed, if not made impossible, when the 
degree of solidification has been carried so far, as to cause the 
fat globules and the small butter granules to be very hard. In 
this case the adhesive property, or stickiness, of the fat globules 
and of the initial butter granules is greatly reduced, the impres- 
sion which they suffer when they collide is very slight, the surface 
of contact is therefore too small and the individual globules and 
granules are too firm to readily adhere to each other when 
they collide. For this reason, cream that is churned at an ex- 
tremely low temperature, or that has been held at a very low 
temperature for a long time before churning, or the fat of which 
has a relatively high melting point, churns with great difficulty. 

In order to give the fat globules an opportunity to coalesce 
they must be subjected to concussion. This is obviously 
produced by the operation of the churn. The more vigorous the 
concussion, other things being equal, the greater their power 
to coalesce and the more rapidly is the churning completed. 

Other conditions being the same, the time required for the 
butter granules to form is determined by the size of the fat 



Churning 277 

globules and by the viscosity of the cream. The larger the fat 
globules the more rapid. the formation of the butter granules^. 
The effect of the concussion and the ease of coalescence are 
intensified in the case of the large globules, because they strike 
each other and the sides of the churn oftener and with greater 
force than do the small globules. 

The viscosity of the cream diminishes the force of the con- 
cussion. It obstructs the frequency of the collisions between 
globules and detracts from the force of the impact when they 
do collide, lessening their power of adhesion. 

Conditions which Affect the Chumability of Cream and the 
Mechanical Firmness of Butter, — The ease with which cream 
churns is dependent on many and varying factors, some of these 
factors have to do with the initial character of the cream as it 
arrives at the factory, while others refer to conditions of the proc- 
ess of rnanufacture. To the former group may be classed the size 
of the fat globules, the chemical composition of the butterfat 
and the viscosity of the cream. The second group includes such 
factors as temperature of cream, degree of ripeness, richness of 
cream, nature of agitation, fullness of churn, speed of churn. 

The following schematic classification may serve to illustrate 
the numerous factors which enter into the churnability of cream, 
and to clarify their logical relation to each other : 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Purdue Bulletin No. 159, 1912, p. 325. 



278 



Chubning 



Classification of Essential Conditions Influencing the 
Churnability of Cream 



The churning 
process, or the 
formation of ■ 
butter granules, 
depends on 



Solidification 
of fat 

This is in- 
fluenced by 



Melting point 
of butterfat 



Tern 



Chemical fBreed 

composi- J Period of 

tion of ] lactation 

butterfat [Feed 



;mperature fChurning temperature 
of butter- -j Time held at churninj 



fat 

Size of fat 
globules 



Concussion 
of cream 



Coalescence 
of fat 
globules 

This is in- 
fluenced by 



Mechanical 
firmness 
of fat 



Size of fat 
globules 



Concussion 
of cream 



temperature 

^Breed fLocality 

Period of ■; Season of 
lactation [ year 



Agitation 



Fullness of 

churn 
Speed of 

churn 



Viscosity of fPeriod of 
cream < lactation 

[Acidity 
Richness of cream 

Chemical 
composi- 
tion of 
butterfat 



Melting point' 

j Size of fat 
globules 



^Breed 
Period of 
lactation 



["Breed 

■< Period of -| Season of 
[ lactation [ year 



[Locality 



Agitation 



Viscosity of 
cream 



Fullness of 

churn 
Speed of 

churn 

fPeriod of 
lactation 

I Acidity 



Richness of cream 



Churning 279 

Size of Fat Globules. — Cream in which the small fat globules 
greatly predominate churns with difficulty while cream with 
large average globules churns quickly. As previously stated the 
formation of butter granules is dependent in part on the co- 
alescence of the fat globules. In order for the fat globules to 
coalesce, the fat must be partly or wholly solidified. For the 
solidification of the fat it is necessary that the physical equilibri- 
um of the fat globules be disturbed and partly destroyed. Other 
things being the same, the chief factor keeping the fat globules 
intact is the surface tension. The forces which overcome and 
partly destroy the effect of the surface tension are greater in 
their effect on the large globules than on the small globules, 
the equilibrium of the large globules is more easily disturbed. 
Therefore they solidify more readily and coalesce more quickly. 
Again, the effect of the concussion in the churn, and the ease 
of coalescence are intensified in the case of the large globules, 
because they strike each other and the sides of the churn oftener 
and with greater force than do the small globules. 

This is one of the reasons why milk from stripper cows in 
which the fat globules are usually relatively small, often churns 
with great difficulty. And since, in winter, the great majority of 
the cows supplying the creamery are well advanced in their 
period of lactation, it is in winter that the majority of the churn- 
ing difficulties occur. The diameter of the fat globules in strip- 
per milk averages about one-third of that of the fat globules of 
milk from cows during the first two to three months of lactation. 

The size of the fat globules is also very materially affected 
by breed, the fat globules in milk of the Channel Island cows 
averaging much larger than those of the Holsteins and Ayrshires. 
This explains in part, why cream churned on the farm and 
produced exclusively from Holsteins and Ayrshires, at a time 
when the cows approach the end of their period of lactation, 
often churns with great difficulty. In the creamery the factor 
of breed of cows is of much less importance. As the cream 
supply territory of most creameries embraces a varied mixture 
of the several breeds and grades of dairy cattle, the danger of 
churning difficulties due to effect of breed on the size of the fat 
globules, is a negative quantity. 



280 Churning 

Chemical Properties of the Butterfat. — The chemical make- 
up of the butterfat influences its churnability largely through its 
effect on the melting point and mechanical firmness of the fat. 
While the desired degree of solidification of the fat globules is 
chiefly a matter of temperature adjustment of the cream before 
churning, it is very materially influenced by the chemical com- 
position of the fat. Butterfat is a mixture of fats with different 
melting points, different solidifying points and of varying me- 
chanical firmness. 

Experimental results by the author^ and others show that, 
while there appears to be no definite relation between the per 
cent of volatile acids, as arbitrarily expressed by the Reichert- 
Meissl number, and the per cent of oleic acid, as expressed by 
the Iodine number, and the melting point, and while the relative 
proportion of soluble acids exclusive of butyric and that of in- 
soluble acids exclusive of oleic acid is evidently an important 
factor related to the melting point, it appears reasonable to con- 
clude, that the volatile acids and the oleic acid do influence the 
melting point to a very marked degree and that there is a strong 
tendency for the melting point to follow, inversely, changes in 
the per cent oleic acid and volatile fatty acids. 

Since the volatile fatty acids have a much lower melting 
point than the oleic acid, it is obvious that variations in the 
amount of the former, present in the butterfat, exert the greater 
influence on the melting-point of the fat. However, the volatile 
fatty acids are present in relatively small amounts and their 
changes, expressed in percentage of the total fat, are usually 
slight. Oleic acid, on the other hand, constitutes a large por- 
tion of the total butterfat and it often varies between wide limits 
(35 to 50%). Hence the fluctuations in the amount of oleic acid 
present are looked upon as, and have been found to be, respons- 
ible for, in a large measure, variations in the melting point. 

Butterfat in which the fats with high melting points and 
great firmness are present in excess and at the expense of the 
fats with low melting points and soft texture, churns relatively 
slowly. The fat globules solidify at a relatively high tempera- 
ture, and unless the churning temperature has been correspond- 
ingly raised, they are prone to become excessively firm, their 



1 Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills, Purdue Bulletin No. 159, 1912. 



Churning 281 

power of coalescence is greatly reduced and the formation of 
butter granules is retarded. When cream containing butterfat 
of this character is held at a low temperature for a considerable 
length of time and is churned at that low temperature, the dif- 
ficulty of churning becomes very marked and the churning pro- 
cess may require several hours. On the other hand, in the case, 
of cream containing butterfat which is made up of a relatively 
large portion of fats with a low melting point and has a soft 
texture, the cream will churn quickly because the coalescence 
of the soft fat globules is facilitated. 

Individuality, breed, age and length of milking period exert 
some influence on the melting point and mechanical texture of 
the fat. Thus the Channel Island' cows produce butterfat with 
a higher melting point and of firmer texture than the Holsteins 
and Ayrshires. Quite often cows which have been in milk for 
an abnormal length of time produce a very firm butterfat that 
churns with great difficulty. But these factors must be con- 
sidered rather incidental and of material influence only in the 
case of butter that is made on the farm and from a small num- 
ber of cows. 

The most important and decisive factor affecting the chem- 
ical composition, melting point and mechanical texture of the 
fat and the churnability of the cream is the feed. Experimental 
investigations^ have conclusively brought out the following facts 
with reference to the influence of different feeds on the melting 
point and mechanical firmness of the butterfat : 

Feeds which increase the per cent of olein usually tend to 
make a soft butter. To these belong feeds rich in vegetable oils, 
such as germ oil, corn oil, linseed oil, linseed meal rich in fat, 
cottonseed oil, soya bean oil, soya bean meal, gluten feeds rich 
in fat when fed in large quantities and blue grass pasture. 

Feeds which decrease the per cent of olein, such as feeds 
low in vegetable oils, and rich in carbohydrates and sugars, tend 
to make a firm butter. To these belong potatoes, corn meal, 
corn silage, sweet corn fodder, wheat bran, sugar beets, etc. 
Cottonseed meal also tends to make a firm and crumbly butter. 

It is obvious from the above results, that in winter, when 
the cows are on dry feed and especially if the grain ration con- 



1 Hunziker, Spitzer and MUls. Purdue BuUetin No. 159, 1912. 



282 Churninc. 

tains bran and cottonseed meal, the butterfat is prone to be 
relatively firm and the fat globules are slow in uniting into but- 
ter granules. This condition is further intensified by the fact 
that the fat globules in winter cream are relatively small and the 
cream is often of viscous nature due to the advanced state of the 
period of lactation of the majority of the cows. Where butter 
is made on the farm and the buttermaker therefore has the feed- 
ing under his control, the addition to the ration of some con- 
centrate rich in vegetable oil, such as linseed meal, or gluten 
feed, will help to overcome churning difficulties. In summer 
when the cows are on succulent pasture, which tends to lower 
the melting point of the fat and frequently causes the butter to 
come too quickly and in soft and slushy condition, the difficulty 
may be avoided by feeding a small amount of dry hay if avail- 
able, or cottonseed meal, or other feed producing hard fat. In 
the creamery, where the buttermaker has no control of the feed- 
ing, the difficulty can best be overcome by adjusting the churn- 
ing temperature so as to make the butter come moderately firm. 
In summer the chief remedy against too rapid formation of the 
butter granules and the production of an excessively soft and 
slushy butter lies in the proper lowering of the churning tem- 
perature. 

Viscosity of Cream. — The more viscous the cream the more 
time is required to complete the churning. The viscosity of the 
cream counteracts to a considerable extent the concussion to 
which the fat globules must be subjected, in order to make pos- 
sible their coalescence. In very viscous cream the fat globules 
strike each other less readily and with less force than in cream 
free from abnormal viscosity. The churning difficulty is further 
greatly intensified by the obstructing efifect of the great volume 
of air which is beaten into and held by this viscous cream. 

Abnormal viscosity of cream is often due to its peculiar 
chemical properties. Cream from stripper cows and cows which 
have been in milk for a prolonged 'period is prone to show 
pronounced viscosity and often churns with great diffifculty. This 
is especially true with certain individual cows. Such cream 
usually contains a relatively high per cent of solids not fat, and 
these solids, especially the proteids. may be of abnormally 
viscous character. 



Churning 283 

The viscosity is frequently also brought about, or intensified, 
by abnormal fermentations which break down a portion of the 
proteids. Excessively low temperature and churning the cream 
sweet, are additional conditions which tend toward churning 
difficulties by intensifying the viscosity and the resulting froth- 
ing in the churn. 

The viscosity may be materially reduced by properly ripen- 
ing the cream and by raising the churning temperature, also 
by adding a small amount of salt to the cream. 

Churning Temperature. — The churning temperature is one 
of the most important factors governing the churnability of the 
cream. Other conditions being the same, and within reason- 
able limits, the higher the churning temperature, the more rapidl}; 
do the butter granules formi and the shorter is the churning pro- 
cess; the lower the temperature the more time is required to com- 
plete the churning. 

Excessively high churning temperatures are very undesirable, 
because they are injurious to the texture and quality of the but- 
ter. Butter made under such conditions is prone to have a 
greasy texture and a poor, weak, slushy and leaky body. Such, 
butter does not stand up well on the market and readily develops 
ofif-flavors. This is especially true with cream with a relatively 
high per cent of fat. Cream with a low fat content can be 
churned at relatively higher temperatures without danger of 
serious injury to the body of the butter. High churning tem- 
peratures are also prone to cause overchurning. The fat globules 
unite so rapidly that the churn usually is not stopped soon 
enough, so that the coalescence has gone far beyond the granular 
stage, large lumps of butter having been formed. Churning at 
too high temperatures further causes excessive loss of fat in the 
buttermilk. This is due to the great rapidity with which the 
large globules coalesce and the shortness of the churning period, 
giving the small globules insufficient opportunity to become 
properly incorporated in the butter granules. 

High churning temperatures in early summer, when the 
butterfat naturally has a low melting point, and is relatively soft 
because of access of the cows to green pasture, tends to produce 
butter high in moisture and there is danger of violating the 16 



284 Churning 

per cent moisture limit. When butter contains too much 
moisture as the result of churning- at too high a temperature, it 
is often difficult to correct the error. The fat in this condition 
is so soft that it is exceedingly miscible with water and the 
water is very finely distributed throughout the butter and thor- 
oughly incorporated. For correction of this defect see chapter 
on Moisture Control. 

High churning temperatures under certain conditions are 
also prone to produce a slushy and very leaky butter. This is 
especially the case in fall, winter and early spring, when the 
melting point of the butterfat is relatively high and the higher 
churning temperature does not very greatly increase the mis- 
cibility of the butterfat, but reduces the emulsifying power of 
the protein substances in butter. 

Too low a churning temperature is undesirable because it 
greatly prolongs the churning process. This is due partly to 
excessive solidification of the fat in the fat globules. The fat 
globules become so firm that their power to coalesce and to form 
butter granules is greatly reduced. The difficulty of churning 
is further augmented by the increase of the viscosity of this 
cold cream, which lessens the concussion, and by the churning 
of cream with a very low butterfat content which hinders the 
fat globules from uniting into granules, because of the large 
amount of intervening serum. When churned at abnormally low 
temperatures the butter appears in the form of very firm, small, 
round granules which make the proper and uniform incorporan 
tion of the salt difficult and which hinder the control of moist- 
ure and overrun. Such butter is prone to be low in moisture 
and to cause a correspondingly low overrun. In order to get 
the salt properly incorporated there is danger of overworking it 
and of giving the butter a salvy body. Of the two extremes, too 
high and too low temperatures, the former, too high a tem- 
perature, however, is the most harmful to the quality of the 
butter. 

As previously shown, the churning temperature must be 
governed by and adjusted according to the degree of firmness 
of the fat in the cream and this in turn will vary with locality 
and season of year. 



Churning 



285 



The locality largely determines the breed of dairy cows and 
the feed ; while the season has to do Avith the period of lactation 
and feed. 



Table 43. — Showing Effect of Breed on Mechanical Firmness of 
Butter and Relation of Mechanical Firmness to Butter Fat 

Constants.^ 



No. of 
Breed Cows 


Reichert- 

Meissl No. 


Iodine 
Number 


Melting Depression 
Point mm. 


Ayrshire .. 3 
Holstein . . 3 
Jersey .... 18 


27.84 
27.56 
31.12 


35.64 
37.10 
29.10 


34.1 16.83 
34.3 4.88 
34.5 1.83 



The above table shows that the fat from Holsteins and 
Ayrshires contains a greater proportion of the softer fats (olein) 
as expressed by the Iodine number and makes a much softer 
butter than the fat from the Jerseys. In localities, therefore, 
where the Holsteins and Ayrshires predominate, lower churning 
temperatures should be used than in exclusive Jersey territory 

In the southern states where, because of the great availabili- 
ty and cheapness, cottonseed meal is fed in relatively large 
quantities, higher churning temperatures must be used than in 
the northern sections where gluten feed and linseed meal are 
a prominent part of the grain ration. In fact, in certain sections 
of the South it is necessary to raise the churning temperature to 
as high as 72° F. in order to complete the churning process in 
a reasonable length of time and to secure butter with a body 
sufficiently soft for proper handling. 

With reference to the season of the year the fact is well 
known that in winter higher churning temperatures must be 
used than in summer, in order to complete the churning pro- 
cess without undue delay and tp produce a butter that is not 
too firm. The fat in winter milk is usually of a firmer character 
than that of summer milk. 

That this condition is largely due to the change of the 
chemical properties of the butterfat with the change of the 
season, is shown in the following table which represents analyses 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Purdue Bulletin No, 159, 1913. 



286 



Churning 



Table 44. — Effect of the Season of the Year on the Composition 
of Butter Fat of Creamery Butter.^ 



Reichert- 


Iodine 


Melting 


Meissl 


Number 


Point 


Number 




° C. 


30.03 


31.20 


33.4 ° C 


30.58 


31.97 


33.5 ° C 


31.30 


31.94 


33.5 ° C 


29.35 


35.83 


33.3 ° C 


29.55 


36.48 


32.5 ° C. 


29.56 


38.23 


32.45° C 


28.90 


37.10 


31.9 ° C 


27.13 


38.99 


32.1 " C 


27.19 


35.36 


33.0 " C 


26.54 


34.27 


33.2 " C. 


28.36 


30.65 


33.4 " C. 


29.62 


30.30 


33.6 " C 



January . 
February 
March . . . 

April 

May 

June . . . . , 

July 

August . . 
September 
October . 
November 
December 



of butterfat of butter made in the Purdue University Creamery 
during the twelve months of the year. 

The above table shows that during the winter months 
the melting point of the butterfat is highest, causing a relatively 
firm butter while in summer it is lowest causing a soft butter. 
The reason for the higher melting point in winter and the lower 
melting point in summer is obviousl}^ largely due to the decrease 
in winter and increase in summer, of the per cent of olein as 
expressed by the Iodine number and of the volatile fatty acids 
expressed by the Reichert MeissI number. The greater firmness 
of the winter butter has been attributed by some writers to the 
effect of the period of lactation. Since the majority of the cows 
approach the end of their lactation period in winter it was as- 
sumed that stripper cows produce fat with less olein, a higher 
melting point and a higher degree of hardness than fresh cows. 
This is erroneous and not substantiated by facts as shown in 
below experimental results. In the experiment referred to in 
table on next page the cows received the same feed ration 
throughout the year. 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control, Factors not under Control 
of the Buttermaker, Purdue Bulletin 159, 19X2. 



Churning 



as- 



Table 45. — Effect of Period of Lactation on Butter Fat 

Constants.^ 





Reichert: 


Soluble 


Insoluble 


Iodine 


Melting 


Period 


Meissl 


Acids 


Acids 


Number 


Point 




No. 


Per Cent 


Per Cent 






1st month. 


34.55 


7.80 


87.01 


32.08 


35.2 


2nd month. 


32.62 


7.50 


87.37 


32.15 


35.2 


3rd month. 


31.57 


7.34 


87.45 


31.67 


35.4 


4th month. 


31.89 


7.34 


87.34 


32.00 


35.2 


5th month. 


31.59 


7.24 


87.41 


32.30 


34.7 


6th month. 


31.39 


7.19 


87.57 


32.78 


34.1 


7th month. 


30.39 


6.97 


87.70 


34.74 


34.5 


8th month. 


28.48 


6.55 


88.00 


35.90 


34.7 


9th month. 


28.72 


6.56 


88.00 


35.23 


34.7 


10th month 


29.72 


6.69 


87.78 


33.72 


34.0 



The above figures clearly indicate that, while the volatile 
fats as expressed by the Reichert-Meissl number, decrease, the 
olein as expressed by the Iodine number increases and the melt- 
ing point drops, reducing the degree of firmness of the fat as 
the period of lactation advances. This condition may, however, 
in part, be offset by the reduction of the size of the fat globules 
with the advancement of the period of lactation as shown in the 
following table : 

Effect of Breed and Period of Lactation on the Size of the 

Globules.^ 





Breeds of Dairy Cows 


Period of 
Lactation 


Jersey 
25 Cows 


Guern- 
sey 
20 Cows 


Hoi- 1 Ayr- 
stein 1 shire 
9 Cows 133 Cows 


Holder- 

ness Devon 
20 Cows 16 Cows 


1st month 

2nd month 

3rd month 

4th month 

Sth month 

6th month 

7th month 

8th month 

9th month 

10th month 

Ave. for year.. 


1104 
1098 
1228 
1097 
1149 

846 
1017 

733 

715 

571 

955.8 


928 
1063 
954 
659 
839 

584 
568 
408 
426 
716.6 


1 687 
640 1 580 
576 1 624 
256 1 426 
396 1 384 
595 399 
340 322 
310 1 298 
384 241 
284 248 
420.1 420.9 


546 
661 585 
607 450 
501 547 
397 319 
324 355 
329 270 
379 200 
315 250 
336 228 
427.6 375 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control, Factors not under Control 
of the Buttermaker, Purdue Bulletin 159, 1912. 



288 



Churning 



The chief cause of the chang-e trom the relatively soft but- 
ter in summer to firm butter in winter is unmistakeably the 
change from green pasture to dry feed. This is most con- 
clusively brought out in the following table : 

Table 47. — Effect of Dry Feed versus Blue Grass Pasture on 

Mechanical Firmness of Butter and Its Relation to the 

Butter Fat Constants.^ 





Reichert- 

Meissl 

Number 


Iodine 


Melting 


Average 
Volume 


Depression 


May 


Number 


Point 


Fat 
Globules 


mm. 




30.24 


29.97 


34.5 


39.48 


.655 




30.47 


29.51 


34.5 


40.00 


.500 




30.56 


29.34 


34.3 


45.11 


.540 


8-14 


30.40 


29.11 


34.5 


48.44 


.580 


Dry feed 


30.14 


28.67 


34.3 


61.49 


.580 




30.15 


29.50 


34.4 


49.31 


1.040 




30.00 


29.00 


34.3 


51.01 


1.000 


Average 


30.28 


29.30 


34.4 


47.83 


.701 




30.85 


29.11 


34.3 


52.02 


1.000 




30.77 


29.33 


34.4 


51.92 


1.080 


15-21 


31.03 


29.55 


34.2 


50.59 


.955 


Dry feed plus 


30.86 


30.05 


34.4 


54.93 


1.580 


one to two hours 


31.20 


30.36 


34.3 


75.62 


1.665 


pasture daily 


30.62 


31.84 


34.2 


70.64 


1.415 




30.93 


33.12 


33.8 


76.01 


3.080 


Average 


30.89 


30.48 


34.2 


61.68 


1.539 




29.96 


33.51 


33.5 


76.04 


4.165 




28.83 


36.43 


33.5 


82.87 


8.580 


22-28 


28.66 


38.06 


33.4 


93.83 


3.915 


Pasture 


28.87 


38.86 


33.6 


67.32 


5.915 


exclusively 


27.57 


38.97 


33.2 


60.60 


6.832 




29.65 


38.92 


32.9 


55.55 


7.705 




28.59 


39.36 


33.1 


6212 


5.830 


Average 


28.87 


37.73 


33.3 


71.19 


6.135 



In Table 47 is shown the relation of the mechanical firmness 
to the moisture content of butter, average volume of fat globules 
and butter fat constants, as afifected by the change from dry 
feed to blue grass pasture. 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Factors not 
under Control of the Buttermaker, Purdue Bulletin 159, 1912. 



Churning 289 

The increase of the depression was accompanied by an in- 
crease of the moisture content of the butter, of the average vol- 
ume of the fat globules and of the per cent, olein and by a de- 
crease of the volatile acids and a drop of the melting point. The 
effect of the decrease of the volatile acids was again off-set and 
overcome by the marked increase of the per cent, olein. This in 
turn lowered the melting point 1.1 degrees and yielded the 
softer butter. The increase in the depression of butter may also 
have been accelerated by the decided increase of the average size 
of the fat globules. 

The depression in millimeters indicates the mechanical firm- 
ness of the butter. The mechanical firmness of butter was deter- 
mined by measuring the degree of depression under a given 
weight for a given time. The mechanical firmness is expressed 
in millimeter depression. 

On the basis of these facts the churning temperature may 
vary within wide limits, possibly from 42 to 75 degrees F. In 
the northern and central tier of the dairy belt and under fairly 
normal conditions the variations of the proper churning tem- 
perature are confined to within much narrower limits, ranging in 
summer between about 48 and 53 degrees F. and in winter be- 
tween about 55 and 60 degrees F. 

In order to use the proper churning temperature it is neces- 
sary for the buttermaker to familiarize himself with the condi- 
tions which influence and alter the mechanical firmness of the 
butterfat he receives, to study the changes of these conditions 
and the character of the cream as it comes to the factory, and 
then adjust the churning temperature of his cream accordingly. 
This is especially important in the spring of the year when the 
pasture season opens up and in the fall of the year when the 
cows are stabled. 

The appearance of any conditions which tend to produce 
firmer fat should be followed by a corresponding rise in the churn- 
ing temperature and any conditions tending to render the but- 
terfat softer should be followed by a corresponding drop in the 
churning temperature. 

Since the firmness of the butterfat directly governs the 
time necessary to complete the churning, the buttermaker may 
use as a convenient guide for the desired temperature of the cream 



290 CHtJRNtN(i 

of the next churning, the time required to churn the previous 
batch of cream. Under otherwise normally controlled condi- 
tions, when the churning process occupies from 40 to 50 minutes, 
the butter usually has a body and texture of good firm- 
ness. The churning temperature should therefore be so adjusted 
as to complete the churning process in about 40 to 50 minutes. 
For the production of butter of superior body and texture, 
it is necessary to use a churning temperature low enough to yield 
a firm butter. This will also facilitate moisture control and the 
production of uniformity in color, as such butter will stand a 
sufficient amount of working to regulate the per cent moisture 
as desired and to effect a most complete fusion between the 
brine and water, without danger of injuring its body. Of the 
two evils, too low and too high a churning temperature the 
former is by far preferable, while the latter may cause real dam- 
age to the market value of the butter. 

Aside from the physical and chemical properties of the but- 
terfat and the viscosity of the cream, the factors of length of 
time held at churning temperature, richness of cream, age of 
cream, acidity of cream and fullness and speed of churn, should 
be carefully considered by the buttermaker in his adjustment 
and choice of the churning temperature. The relation of these 
factors to the churning is discussed in detail in the following 
paragraphs. 

Time of Holding Cream at Churning Temperature. — The 
cream should be held at the churning temperature for not less 
than two hours prior to churning. As previously explained the 
chief purpose of churning the cream at a temperature lower than 
that at which it is ripened is to secure butter of satisfactory 
firmness of body and to avoid excessive loss of fat in the but- 
termilk. Cream would churn much more rapidly at a some- 
what higher temperature, but under most conditions the in- 
jury to the body of the butter and the abnormal loss of fat 
make such practice prohibitive. 

In order to secure the full benefit of cooling the cream to 
the churning temperature, the cream must be held at the churn- 
ing temperature for at least two hours. Butter fat is an exceed- 
ingly poor conductor of heat. It gives oflf its heat slowly and 



Churning 291 

only upon prolonged exposure to cold. If cooled to the churn- 
ing temperature immediately before churning, the thermometer, 
while registering the correct temperature, indicates the tem- 
perature of the serum only. If such cream is churned at once 
the temperature during the churning will rise rapidly and the 
resulting butter will have a weak, slushy and leaky body. This 
danger is avoided by cooling the cream to the churning tem- 
perature several hours before churning and holding it at that 
temperature. This gives the fat globules an opportunity to 
give up their heat and to become thoroughly chilled and 
hardened. If the buttermaker is so situated that he has to churn 
without holding the cream at the churning temperature for the 
necessary length of time before churning, he should cool the 
cream to a much lower temperature than would otherwise be 
required, or he may have to add crushed ice to the churn in order 
to avoid injury to the body of the butter and heavy loss of fat. 

Richness of Cream. — Cream low in butterfat requires more 
time to complete the churning than cream rich in fat. In the 
thin cream the fat globules do not coalesce as readily as in the 
rich cream. They find each other with more difficulty on ac- 
count of the intervening serum, and the butter granules are 
slow in gathering enough fat globules to assume sufficient size 
to complete the churning. This greatly prolongs the churning 
process. In winter when there is no opportunity for the cream 
to warm up during the prolonged churning process, the butter 
granules formed in the thin cream are subjected to excessive 
concussion, becoming round and very compact. This condi- 
tion is prone to produce butter with a low moisture content. Thin 
cream, owing to the large amount of intervening and interfer- 
ing serum, generally does not churn out exhaustively, exces- 
live fat is lost in the buttermilk, and the loss of fat is further 
augmented by the relatively large amount of buttermilk. 

In the rich cream there is less intervening serum, 
the fat globules are closer together, they find each other readily 
and they churn out more rapidly. Since the richer cream churns 
more rapidly, the butter granules are subjected to less grind- 
ing against each other. They retain their original shape more 
completely, are irregular in shape, flaky and less compact. 
In this condition they do not drain as readily and lose less mojs- 



292 Churning 

ture during- the process of working. There being less buttermilk 
from rich cream, there is less loss of fat than from thin cream. 
The above advantages hold good only with cream of reasonable 
richness. Cream excessively high in butterfat, such as cream test- 
ing 35 per cent and over, may stick to the sides of the churn and 
fail to be agitated when the churn revolves. Such cream, espe- 





Tig. 44, Dairy size Victor combined pjg-. 45. Miunetonna Home butter 
churn and worker maker 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. Courtesy Davis-Watkins Dairymen's 

Mfg. Co. 

cially when churned at a relatively high temperature, is prone to 
produce butter with a greasy body and containing excessive 
buttermilk, which it is difficult to remove. Cream with a low 
fat content can be churned at a higher temperature without 
injury to the quality of the butter than cream rich in fat. The 
most suitable richness of cream for churning lies within the 
range of 30 to 33 per cent fat. 

Acidity of Cream^. — Sour cream churns more rapidly and 
more exhaustively than sweet cream. This is chiefl}^ due to 
the reduced viscosity in the sour cream. Sweet cream is natu- 
rally viscous and this viscosity lessens the concussion to which 
the fat globules are subjected and hinders the globules from 
striking each other with sufficient force to coalesce. Sour cream 
has lost much of its viscosity and is granular in body, the acid 
having changed the physical make-up of the proteids and the 
mechanical properties of the cream. Excessive loss of fat by 
sweet-cream churning may be avoided by lowering the churn- 
ing temperature. 



Churning 293 

Nature and Amount of Agitation. — In order to facilitate 
the bringing- together and adhering to each other of the fat 
globules, they must be subjected to agitation and concussion. 
This is accomplished in the churn. While there is a great 
variety of churns on the market, the entire assortment of churns 
may be grouped into two principal classes, namely churns in 




Tig. 46. Perfection Dreadnaugrht 

Courtesy of J. G. Cherry Co. 

which the cream is agitated by means of an internal agitator, 
and churns in which the agitation is brought about by the 
motion of the churn itself.' 

The first class, the churns with agitators, represents the 
older styles of churns. The old dash churn is a typical repre- 
sentative of this principle. The agitator may have an up-and- 
down motion or it may revolve in the churn like a paddle 
wheel. Churning by the use of the dash churn is a laborious 
task, the amount of concussion produced for the energy ex- 
pended is comparatively low. Another objection to this type, 
of churn is that all the butterfat does not churn out simultane- 
ously, considerable time elapses between the first appearance 
of the butter granules and the completion of the churning, and 
the stirring motion of the agitator or paddles has a tendency 
to partly destroy the grain of the first granules formed, mak- 
ing butter of a poor texture. Furthermore, the dash churns are 
not conducive to maximum exhaustiveness of churning and 
usually cause a relatively great loss of fat in the buttermilk. 

The second group of churns, the churns in which the agi- 
tation is brought about by the motion of the churn itself, repre- 



294 



Churning 



sents tlie type of churns now almost exclusively in use in this 
country. Some of these churns have a swinging motion, but 
the majority are revolving or rotating barrels or boxes. From 
the point of view of efficiency of agitation the hollow barrel 
or box churn is the most desirable. The rotating motion of 
the churn causes the fat globules to strike the sides of the churn 
and the concussion thus produced hastens the formation of the 
butter granules. The churns of small capacity such as are used 
on the farm are usually, though not necessarily, entirely hollow. 




Tig, 47. Giant Dibrow churn 

Courtesy Davis-Watkins Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 

turning end over end, while the great majority of the factory 
churns are equipped in their interior with rollers and workers, 
and with shelves attached to the sides of the churn, raising the 
butter and dropping it on the rollers at least once with every 
revolution of the churn. 

Speed of Churn. — Aside from the style or construction of 
churn, the amount of agitation and concussion materially de- 
pends on the speed of the churn. The speed which produces 
the maximum agitation and at which the churning is completed 
in the shortest time is that which will subject the particles 
of cream to the most rapid motion upon one another. Up to a 
certain point an increase in the speed of the churn increases 
the concussion of the particles of the cream. But when the 
speed is carried to the point where the centrifugal force causes 
the cream to partake of the motion of the churn, the motion of 
the particles of cream upon one-another is diminished, the con- 



Churning 295 

cussion of the fat globules is lessened, and the churning process 
is retarded. For maximum concussion, therefore, the churn 
should revolve at the highest speed consistent with the absence 
of centrifugal motion of the cream and that permits the cream 
to fall from side to side of the churn. The exact speed which 
accomplishes this condition varies somewhat with make of 
churn, the fullness of the churn and the richness of the cream. 
Under average normal conditions it has been found that the 
churn should revolve at a maximum speed of about thirty 
revolutions per minute. 

Amount of Cream in the Churn. — Other conditions being 
the same, when the churn is about one-third to one-half full 
the cream is subjected to the maximum concussion. The am- 
ount of cream in the churn bears a direct relation to the agita- 
tion of the cream. The fuller the churn the more difficult it 
is to produce thorough agitation and the more time is required 
for the formation of the butter granules. When the churn is 
too full the cream is also more prone to foam and swell, which 
makes the completion of the churning next to impossible, with- 
out first removing some of the cream. Under such conditions 
there usually is also excessive loss of fat in the buttermilk. 

With too little cream in the churn, the cream, if it is rich 
in butterfat and thick, is prone to adhere toi the sides of the 
churn, it will then either revolve with the churn or slide back 
along the side of the churn. In either case the process of 
churning is delayed. If the cream is thin, the granules are dif- 
ficult to gather. Too little cream in the churn has the additional 
disadvantage that the control of the temperature is difficult, and 
in case of a warm churn room, the cream may warm up con- 
siderably and the butter is apt to be excessively soft. In the 
case of thin or medium rich cream and at a low temperature 
the butter granules of small churnings in a large churn are 
subjected to excessive agitation, striking against the sides of the 
churn with much force. This makes them very compact, inten- 
sifying the expulsion of water, thus tending to reduce the 
overrun. 

From the above discussion it should be clear that, for 
quickest and best results, the size of the churning should be 



296 



Churning 



adjusted to the size of the churn and that a churn about one- 
third to one-half full will do most satisfactory work. The 
crowding of the churn, in order to make one churning" out of 
two, is usually poor economy of time. More time is required 
to churn out the butter from an overfilled churn than by divid- 
ing the cream into two batches and churning each separately. 

Preparation of the Churn, — Before the cream is transferred 
to the churn, the churn should be properly prepared as to 




Fig". 48. Heavy Duty Dual churn 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg-. Co. 



cleanliness and temperature. New churns generally have a pro- 
nounced woody odor which is prone to be absorbed by the but- 
ter unless the churn is previously treated to remove this odor. 
If the churn is a new one that has never been used, or an old 
one that has been laying idle for some time, it should be soaked 
with a solution of milk of lime or other alkali solution for sev- 
eral days before it is used. Milk of lime is preferable because 
it helps in hardening and closing the pores of the wood, thus 
assisting in excluding grease, curd and other impurities which 
are prone to lodge and which sooner or later become the cause 
of a foul smelling churn. Other alkali solutions, such as wash- 
ing powders, sal soda, etc., while efi^ective as purifiers, tend to 
soften the wood and to leave its pores open. Lime has the 
further advantage of absorbing and removing from the churn 
woody and other undesirable odors. Brine or buttermilk are 
frequently used for removing the woody odor. While these 



Churning 297 

remedies may help to remove the woody odor, they are less 
satisfactory for other reasons. Brine, though it has limited anti- 
septic properties, with age becomes stale and sometimes foul 
unless it is more concentrated than is generally the case, and 
buttermilk has elements of decomposition, such as curd and 
a variety of germ life with which it is undesirable to fill the open 
pores of the new churn. 

The churn containing the milk of lime should be revolved 
frequently so as to expose all parts of the churn to the lime 




Fig". 49. Simplex churn 
Courtesy D. H. BurreU & Co. 

emulsion. When the soaking has been completed — after not less 
than three days^ — the milk of lime is drawn ofif and the churn 
is washed out thoroughly and with several washings of water, 
the last of which should be boiling hot. Care should be taken 
that all particles of undissolved lime are completely removed, 
otherwise the butter will pick up this insoluble grit and incor- 
porate it. 

Churns that are not in constant use should be kept filled 
with milk of lime while not in use. This will prevent them 
from becoming leaky, due to drying out and shrinking of the 
staves. It also prevents the churn from becoming foul-smell- 
ing which is so often the case with idle churns, due to the pres- 
ence in the cracks and pores of the wood of decomposing rem- 
nants of cream, butter and buttermilk. These fermenting im- 
purities and germs tend to imbed themselves in the wood in 



298 



Churning 



an inactive churn until it is almost impossible to dislodge them. 
The milk of lime soaking into the wood inhibits their growth, 
both because of the purifying action of the lime and because 
of the exclusion of air. Even churns which are in daily use are 
benefitted by a weekly treatment with milk of lime. 

Immediately after the butter is removed from the churn, 
the churn should be rinsed out with two rinsings of boiling-hot 
water. The first rinsing should contain some good washing 
powder, the second rinsing should be done with clear, pure hot 
water. It is advisable to revolve the churn for several minutes 
on high gear while rinsing. The churn should not be rinsed with 
cold water for the last rinsing, because cold water will not 




Pig". 50. Heavy Duty Victor cliurn 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 

evaporate, causing the churn to become watersoaked and musty. 
On the next day, immediately before filling the churn with the 
cream, it should be thoroughly steamed, and then rinsed with 
clean, cold water so as to thoroughly chill it. 

Most churns in use are constructed of wood, usually of 
cypress. Cypress is most resistent to the swelling action of water 
and to fungus attacks. The temperature control is easier in 
wooden churns than in metal churns. Some farm churns are 
made of iron, tinned on the inside. These churns are easily 
kept sweet and clean, but they are objectionable when used in 
a warm room because the cream is prone to warm up during 
the churning process, causing the butter to become soft. 



Churning 299 

The churn should be kept clean on the outside as well 
as on the inside. This is best accomplished by washing it often 
with hot water and soap or washing powder. It should be 
painted at least once per year. Two coats of white lead 
followed by a coat of enamel paint give the churn a sanitary 
appearance and a smooth surface that is easy to keep clean. 
Before the paint is applied all loose paint, rust, remnants of 
cream and alkali should be removed. 

The churn door openings should be equipped, when the 
churn is not in use, with frames covered with cheese cloth or 
fine wire mesh netting to keep out flies, dust and other impu- 
rities. The churn door frames and the doors themselves should 
be kept in good repair to avoid loss of cream by leaking. Old 
and worn-out cork packing can easily be replaced by new, and 
broken door catches should be promptly replaced by new ones. 

If the churn does not drain properly a one-inch hole may 
be bored in the side of the churn at its lowest place. The churn 
should be so located that the operator has easy access to the 
gear end for repairs and for frequent oiling. The churn should 
be oiled daily. The condition of clutches and rollers should 
receive constant attention and the starting of the churn should 
be done with care and not too suddenly, in order to save clutches 
and cogs. At best the life of the churn is short, but its period 
of usefulness is much shortened by careless handling and neg- 
lect. It is a good plan to take the churn apart in winter when 
the buttermaker has time and to make such repairs and order 
such new parts as may be necessary in order to forestall serious 
trouble and delay during the heavy season. 

Sticky Churns. — Occasionally great difficulty is experienced 
to keep the butter from sticking to sides, ends and rollers of the 
churns. In many cases this trouble is caused solely by not hav- 
ing the churn properly chilled, before it is filled with cream, 
the butter sticking to the warm wood surface. In such cases 
the recurrence of the difficulty may readily be avoided by thor- 
oughly chilling the churn with cold water or with ice water 
before filling it with cream. 

In many other instances, however, the churn does not re- 
spond to this treatment and the butter continues to stick, due 



300 Churning 

to the fact that, owing- to improper care, the wood of the churn 
has become loaded with grease and alkali. The most effective 
remedy against stickiness then, is to treat the churn with a chem- 
ical that will free the pores of the wood from the grease and 
alkali, and that is to rinse out the churn with a dilute solution 
of sulphuric acid, using one quart of commercial sulphuric acid 
in 100 g-allons of water and running the churn with this acid 
solution for about an hour. The churn must then be rinsed 
thoroughly with several washings of hot water. 

Straining the Cream. — The cream should be strained into 
the churn. This is best done by inserting a strainer with fine 
perforations into the churn door opening. These strainers can 
be obtained from any one of the reliable creamery supply 
houses. The straining is necessary in order to break up and 
keep out of the churn, lumps of curd which might otherwise be 
incorporated in the butter and give rise to white specks and 
other irregularities in color. The proper straining of the cream 
will also avoid insoluble foreign matter, impurities flies, 
etc., from being churned into the butter. In farm buttermak- 
ing on a small scale the use of a strainer dipper is a very con- 
venient way whereby the cream may be strained as it enters 
the churn. 

Addition of Butter Color. — The market demands that butter 
be uniform in color, and the successful manufacturer must 
supply that which the consumer wants. The natural color of 
butter is that which is naturally yielded by cows feeding upon 
green pasture. This color is of a bright golden yellow. Ac- 
cording to Palmer'' this yellow color is due to the yellow pigment 
carotin and xanthophyll, found in fresh green feeds and which 
accompany, and are hidden by, the chlorophyll. During the 
flush of the milk producing season the great majority of the 
cows are on green pasture, therefore the great bulk of butter 
has this golden yellow color as a natural ingredient. Towards 
fall when the pastures begin to dry up, the natural color of the 
butter becomes lighter and in winter, when the cows are on 
dry feed, butter is only faintly yellow, the exact shade of color 



^ Palmer, "The Yellow Color in Cream and Butter," Missouri Circular 74, 
1915. 



Churning 301 

varying considerably with the kind of feed, the breed of cows 
and the period of lactation. The Channel Island breeds produce 
a more highly yellow butter than the Holsteins and Ayrshires, 
and at the beginning of the period of lactation the cream and 
butter have a deeper shade of yellow than after the cows have 
been in milk for some months. All green feeds and yellow roots 
intensify the yellow color of butter while most dry roughage, 
grains and mill by-products tend to diminish the yellow color 
of milk and dairy products. (See also "Color Defects of Butter," 
Chapter XVII.) 

In order to maintain uniformity of color, or the color of 
summer butter, throughout the year, in fall, winter, early spring 
and in times of drought during the summer, butter is artificially 
colored. For this purpose a variety of butter colors is used. 

A suitable butter color must be free from ingredients injuri- 
ous to the health of the consumer, it should have such strength 
of coloring that only a very small quantity need be added to 
cream in order to give the butter the desired shade of yellow, 
and it must be free from undesirable odors and flavors so as 
to not impair the quality and market value of the butter. 

Aniline colors which formerly were used extensively for 
this purpose possess very intensive coloring properties, but 
their use is prohibited by the Federal Pure Food Act which 
went in force in 1907.^ While extracts from various plants 
may serve as butter colors, the bulk of butter color of com- 
merce today is the coloring substance extracted from the seed 
of the Annatto plant, Bixa oreltana, by means of some neutral 
oil, such as cottonseed oil, or corn oil. 

The extract of butter color is made by boiling the annatto 
seed in the oil for several hours. During the latter period of 
the process the heat is raised to a very high temperature, about 
240 degrees F., for the purpose of effecting a permanent solu- 
tion of the annatto coloring principle in the oil. The mixture 
is then filtered through heavy canvas, either by gravity or un- 



1 On January 9, 1920, the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of 
Chemistry, S.R.A.-Chem. 24, announced the certification, subject to the pro- 
visions of Food Inspection Decisions 76, 117 and 129, the following oil-soluble 
coal-tar dies: Yellow A.B. (Benzeneazo — B — naphthylamine), and Yellow 
O.B. (Ortho-Tolueneazo — B — naphthylamine). These two coal-tar dies can 
now be legitimately used as butter colors. 



302 Churning 

der pressure. The filtered oil constitutes the butter color of 
commerce. It is perfectly clear to the eye, but under magnifi- 
cation shows to contain a very fine precipitation of suspended 
matter. 

Good grades of annatto butter color, purchased from reliable 
manufacturers, are made from high grade annatto seed and oil. 
Such butter color is free from objectionable flavor and odor 
and from sediment, and it does not deteriorate readily in flavor. 
It is not advisable, however, to purchase more than can be used 
in one season, nor to buy it from supply houses or stores 
where it may have been on hand for years. It should be pur- 
chased fresh, from a reliable firm and it should not be carried 
over summer. Old, stale butter color may deteriorate and lend 
butter objectionable flavors. 

It is not necessary, nor desirable, to keep butter color in 
the cold. If made from pure, neutral oil and sound seed, butter 
color does not deteriorate when kept at warm temperature, if 
not more than one season old. Annatto, similar to other vege- 
table colors, is a fugitive color. While the butter color pre- 
pared from it, is not known to bleach under conditions to which 
it is exposed in the creamery, it may precipitate and settle 
out some of its coloring principle, so that different portions of 
color, drawn from the same package, may not produce the same 
shade of yellow in butter, causing dissatisfaction when the but- 
ter reaches the market. Low temperature, abrupt changes of 
temperature, exposure to air and agitation accelerate the preci- 
pitation of butter color. 

The drums, cans or other containers of butter color should, 
therefore, be stored in a place where the temperature is fairly 
uniform, and preferably at room temperature, and their con- 
tents should be protected against excessive agitation and expo- 
sure to air. The practice of pumping the butter color out of 
the drum when it is needed, tends to incorporate considerable 
air in it and to produce excessive and repeated agitation, both 
of which conditions invite precipitation. It is preferable to lay 
the drum on a sleeper and attach a spigot to one end of the 
drum from which the butter color can readily be drawn when 
needed. 



Churning 303 

The amount of butter color to be used varies greatly with 
locality, season of year and markets. In localities where the 
Channel Island breeds greatly predominate, less artificial color- 
ing is needed than where the cream comes largely from Holstein 
and Ayrshire cows, the latter naturally producing a butter with 
a much lighter shade of yellow. 

During the summer months and as long as the cows are 
on succulent pasture the natural shade of yellow is quite sut- 
ficient for the bulk of the trade and no artificial butter color is 
needed. Towards fall the natural color of butter becomes light- 
er, necessitating the addition of small amounts of artificial 
color in order to suit the trade. As the intensity of the natural 
color diminishes, in late fall and winter, more artificial color is 
needed to maintain a uniform shade of yellow. This is due to the 
cows being on dry feed and to the advanced stage of the period of 
lactation of the majority of cows. 

The demand of the market is an important factor deter- 
mining the amount of color to be added. American markets 
demand a higher shade of yellow than European markets. The 
southern markets require a deep yellow butter, the eastern and 
northern markets a straw color. The Jewish trade demands 
uncolored butter. 

The amount of artificial butter color that must be added, 
then, varies greatly under these diverse conditions and it ranges 
from none to about 4 ounces for every 100 pounds of fat in 
the churn. 

One ounce of butter color for every hundred pounds of 
butter fat in the churn is a fair average amount. For the con- 
venience of the farm buttermaker the following equivalents 
of one ounce per 100 pounds of fat are given : 
For 100 pounds fat use 1 ounce color 
For 1 pound fat use 5 drops color 
For 1 gallon 30% cream use 12 drops color 
For 5 gallons 30% cream use 1 teaspoonful color. 

The above figures should be considered only as very ap- 
proximate averages, which it may be necessary to modify in 



304 Churning 

order to make them suitable to prevailing conditions of breed, 
season of year, feed and market demands. These figures may 
prove serviceable, however, to the beginner. 

Analine butter colors are much more intensive in their color- 
ing properties than annatto butter color. Hence when using 
the now certified and permissible analine colors, the amount re- 
quired is very much less than above indicated in the case of 
annatto color. 

As a matter of principle the use of artificial butter color, 
though sanctioned by tradition and by law, should be limited 
to the minimum needed to satisfy the trade. The demand of 
the trade for a highly colored butter is overestimated by the 
average buttermaker and much butter is colored to a deeper 
shade than necessary or desirable. The present tendency of 
the butter trade is for a lighter colored butter. 

The best time to add the butter color is after the cream 
has been transferred to the churn and before the churn is 
closed. If this has not been done, as is frequently the case due 
to an oversight, it may be added to and mixed with the salt just 
before working. It is then worked into the butter and dis- 
tributed when the salt is worked in. This practice cannot be 
recommended for general use, owing to the difficulty of work- 
ing the butter sufficiently to effect a complete and uniform dis- 
tribution of the color without overworking the butter. It 
should be resorted to only in emergencies. The butter color 
when added in this way should be mixed with the dry salt; 
being an oily emulsion it does not mix well with water or 
wet salt. 

Gas in the Churn. — During the first five minutes of churn- 
ing considerable pressure develops in the churn. This is caused 
by the expulsion of gases from the cream and the consequent 
expansion of the air. This pressure has a slight tendency to 
minimize the agitation of the cream and to cause excessive 
leakage of cream. It is advisable, therefore, to open the vent 
of the churn once or twice during the first five minutes of 
churning to release this pressure. 

Stopping the Churn. — Under normal conditions the churn- 
ing is completed and the churn is stopped, when the butter has 



Churning 305 

gathered in granules of the size of wheat or corn kernels. 
While the size of the granules is only one of the many indica- 
tions of the completion of the churning process, and while it is 
not necessarily an infallibly sure sign, it furnishes the most 
practical index for the buttermaker to tell when to stop the 
churning process. 

When the butter first breaks, the butter granules formed 
are very small and the buttermilk still has a rich, creamy, 
opaque appearance. From this point on, under normal con- 
ditions, the formation of additional butter granules, the coales- 
cence of the small granules into larger ones and the completion 
of the churning take place rapidly. When the churning is com- 
pleted the buttermilk should have lost its creamy consistency and 
opaqueness and should have a thin, bluish, watery appearance 
and should be free from butter. If the churning comes from 
different lots of cream of different degrees of ripeness, or of 
different ages, the completion of the churning requires more 
time and it is necessary to churn to larger granules. The but- 
ter from the sour and older cream breaks first. If the churn 
is stopped when the butter granules are no larger than small 
corn kernels, the chances are that the fat of the sweeter or 
fresher cream is not completely churned out yet and there is 
much loss of fat in the buttermilk. 

The underchurning or stopping of the churn when the but- 
ter granules are very small, always tends to cause excessive 
loss of fat. The smaller fat globules churn out more slowly 
than the larger ones, and at this stage a large number of the 
smaller globules need further agitation to coalesce into butter 
granules of sufficient size to stay in the churn or strainer when 
the buttermilk is drawn off. If these small granules are very 
hard, either on account of the natural firmness of the fat or 
churning at a low temperature, the formation of larger granules 
and the completion of the churning will occupy considerable 
time. If the butter granules are soft, the granules increase in 
size very rapidly. These phenomena are further intensified by 
the richness of the cream. Thin cream delays, while rich cream 
hastens, the coalescence of the granules. If the churning process 



306 Churning 

must be stopped when the butter-granules are still very small, 
excessive loss of fat may be avoided by allowing the churning 
to rest undisturbed for about ten minutes. This gives the smaller 
granules an opportunity to rise to the surface and adhere to 
the butter. 

Overchurning, that is, the formation of large granules or 
lumps, is objectionable, because of the excessive incorporation 
of buttermilk which may prove injurious to the keeping quality 
of the butter. In the case of churning cream of a poor quality, 
this incorporation of buttermilk is especially objectionable, be- 
cause of its tendency to give the butter an unclean, coarse and 
rank flavor and to hasten fermentations in the butter detri- 
mental to its quality. In the case of poor cream, therefore, it 
is important to stop the churn when the granules are still 
small, consistent with reasonable exhaustiveness of churning. 
In this case the buttermilk will drain ofif readily and can be 
washed out thoroughly. Butter from poor cream should b« 
drained well and washed in several lots of water. Overchurn-, 
ing may also cause injury to the body of the butter. If the 
butter granules are very soft, overchurning is difficult to avoid, 
because of the very rapid coalescence and lumping together of 
the granules after the breaking point has been reached. 

Some buttermakers practice overchurning for the purpose 
of incorporating moisture in the butter. The popular concep- 
tion, that overchurning causes the finished butter to be high 
in moisture, is not well founded and would hold good only ii; 
the case of very soft butter. When the churning temperature 
is at all normal and the butter granules are reasonably firm, 
as they should be, there is no tangible reason why large gran- 
ules should make butter containing more moisture than small 
granules. The supposition is that the large granules lock up 
a great deal of moisture. Experimental data do not bear this 
out. On the contrary, they suggest that overchurning, if it 
has any effect at all on the moisture content of the finished 
product, tends to pound the moisture out of the butter. 



Churning .107 

The frequent occurrence of overchurned butter with an 
abnormally high moisture content is not the result of over- 
churning, but is usually due to the weak body of the butter 
for which other conditions, such as soft butter fat, high churn- 
ing temperature, or cream that was not held at the churning 
temperature long enough, are responsible and which conditions 
are also responsible for the overchurning. It is difficult to 
stop the churn before the butter is overchurned in the case 
of cream that is not cooled sufficiently to make the butter 
come reasonably firm. 

Overchurning has a tendency to injure the grain of the 
butter. Danger of this type is especially great when the but- 
ter granules are small and firm, like shot, and when an effort 
is made to secure larger granules by a prolonged continuation 
of the churning process. This condition occurs generally when 
the cream is very thin and cold. Additional churning causes 
excessive friction between these granules and often results in 
a salvy butter. This may be avoided to some extent by draw- 
ing ofif a part of the buttermilk. The greater density of the 
butterfat in the churn thus produced, hastens the completion 
of the churning and avoids unnecessary injury to the grain of 
the butter. 

In order to secure butter of a good body the individuality 
of the butter granules should be preserved. Injury to the gran- 
ules, as the result of overchurning, causes injury to the body 
of the butter, usually making it salvy or greasy. 

Churning Difficulties, — Churning difficulties are occasion- 
ally experienced. In the majority of cases when the butter 
granules are exceptionally slow in gathering, and when the 
churning process is greatly prolonged, the cause lies in the 
peculiar character of the butterfat and the great viscosity of 
the cream. These abnormal conditions are chiefly due to cer- 
tain individual cows. They therefore are encountered largely 
only where butter is made on the farm and from the cream of 
one or a few cows only. In the creamery the cream supply is 
derived from a comparatively large number of cows, which 
differ in breed, lactation and feed, so that abnormal cream 



308 



Churning 



Table 48. 


— Showing Ef 


Tect 


of S 


>ize 


of I 


5utte 


r Grai 


lules on 




Moisture Content of Butter.^ 










, 


O 01 


Buttermilk | 




Revolutions 


Moisture, % 


Date 




a 

c g 2 

PI 

o 


III 

. c 

§2a 
1 « 


c 
■So 


1^ 

Oh 

as 





•a 

1 




d a 

S3 


c 
S 

< 


11 


1908 








' 
















August 18 . . . 


1 


49 


J 


.75 


56 


54 


10 


12 






14.69 






49 


I 


.75 


56 


55 


10 


12 






13.90 


August 11 . .■ 


2 


48 


\ 


.42 


56 


55 


10 


12 






14.62 






48 


3 

'8 


.09 


56 


56 


10 


12 






14.47 


August 25 ... 


3 


48 


a 


.60 


55 


55 


10 


12 






14.57 






48 


i 


.40 


54 


54 


10 


12 






14.46 


August 29 ... 


4 


50 


1 

¥ 


.42 


56 


56 


10 


12 






13.71 






50 


5 


.39 


56 


56 


10 


12 






13.30 


1912 
March 26 . . . 


5 


56 


\ 




58 


58 


10 


20 


23.64 


19.87 


15.48 






56 


21 




57 


57 


10 


20 


15.57 


14.04 


15.00 


April 13 .... 


6 


57 


I 


.70 


59 


55 


10 


20 


30.66 


26.66 


13.12 




57 


n 


.55 


59 


55 


10 


20 


17.47 


15.63 


14.4+ 


April 16 .... 


7 


56 


1 

8 


.30 


57 


55 


10 


20 


25.53 




14.68 




56 


n 


.27 


57 


55 


10 


20 


14.70 


13.42 


13.54 


April 17 .... 


8 


49 


I 


.20 


55 


56 


10 


20 


23.70 




14.13 




49 


3 

4 


.25 


55 


56 


10 


20 


15.84 


13.47 


13.38 


April 18 


9 


51 


h 


.20 


55 


56 


10 


20 


21.77 


19.20 


14.45 






51 


1 


.15 


55 


56 


10 


20 


14.35 


12.77 


12.70 


April 20 .... 


10 


49* 


i 


.10 


53 


56 


10 


20 


25.00 


19.66 


14.59 






49 


1 


.10 


53 


56 


10 


20 


14.07 


13.46 


13.92 


April 23 .... 


11 


50 


J 


.20 


53 


54 


10 


16 


19.83 


19.07 


13.84 






50 


8 


.17 


53 


54 


10 


16 


15.64 


13.61 


13.84 


April 24 .... 


12 


50 


■J 


.15 


54 


55 


10 


20 


21.28 


19.57 


13.86 






50 


1 


.25 


54 


55 


10 


20 


15.61 


14.00 


14.27 


April 25 .... 


13 


50 


i- 


.10 


54 


55 


10 


20 


24.04 


18.58 


14.15 






50 


1 


.10 


54 


55 


10 


20 


13.37 


13,32 


13.21 


April 27 .... 


14 


50 


i 


.25 


54 


56 


10 


20 


22.55 


18.63 


14.78 






50 


8 


.30 


54 


54 


10 


20 


15.50 


14.63 


15.00 


April 30 .... 


15 


49 


.1. 


.17 


54 


56 


10 


20 


22.33 


17.65 


15.00 






49 


1 


.15 


54 


56 


10 


20 


16.24 


12.88 


13.01 


Average for 
Average for 1 


small gra 
arge gran 


fillies 




1 23.66 


19.87 


14.38 


ules and lumps 




I 15.30 


13.74 


13.89 



1 The churnings of the different experiments ranged from 319 to 1420 
pounds and the per cent of fat varied from 21 to 35. In all churnings of the 
same experiment the amount and richness of the cream were the same. 

1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin 
No. 160, 1912,' page 387. 



Churning 309 

of this type becomes greatly diluted with cream that is normal 
in its churnability and causes no material disturbance in the 
churnability of the whole churning. 

Certain cows when they have been in milk five to si?; 
months persist in yielding cream which churns with great dif- 
ficulty, and the butter granules of which are exceedingly slow 
in gathering. The difficulty is usually accompanied by very 
great loss of fat in the buttermilk. 

The same difficulty is experienced frequently with cream 
from old cows and from cows which have not been with calf 
for a long time. This condition is usually intensified by the 
feeding of dry roughage and certain kinds of grain. Examina- 
tion of such cream invariably shows that it either is abnormally 
viscous, or contains unusually small fat globules, or that its 
butterfat is unusually hard, containing a low per cent of olein, 
or a combination of two or all of these conditions. As ex- 
plained under "Conditions Affecting the Churnability of Cream," 
all of these conditions make the formation of butter granules 
difficult and therefore retard the churning process. 

These conditions occur usually in the fall and early winter 
when the cows are on dry feed and are well advanced in their 
lactation. In some cases the abnormal condition of the milk 
can be minimized by the addition to the feed ration of some 
succulent feed, such as corn silage or roots, or some grain rich 
in vegetable oil, such as linseed meal. The succulence increas- 
es the milk flow and tends to reduce the viscosity. The grain 
rich in vegetable oil increases the per cent of olein causing 
the butterfat to be of softer character. In the majority of 
cases, however, the cow refuses to respond to a change of feed 
at the end of her period of lactation. After parturition the, 
milk usually is normal again and the cream churns readily. 

In numerous cases the churning difficulties reported are 
not due to any abnormal condition of the cream as produced 
by the cow, but to faulty methods of manufacture. The cream 
has undergone peculiar fermentations which cause it to become 
abnormally viscous, a cream very low in butterfat is produced, 
the churn is filled too full, or the churn revolves too fast or too 
slow. 



310 Churning 

In the majority of cases the churning difficulties will yield 
wholly or to some extent at least, to proper treatment of the 
cream. A reasonably rich cream containing about 30 per cent 
fat, ripened to about .6 per cent acid, churned at the proper 
temperature and in a churn not more than one-third to one- 
half full, seldom refuses to churn out. If it foams and swells 
in the churn, further agitation is useless until the foam has 
subsided. If the frothing is due to too much cream in the 
churn, the quickest way to churn the cream is to remove a 
portion of the cream from the churn and make two churnings. 
If the swelling is due to churning at too low a temperature, the 
difficulty may be overcome by adding a small amount of warm 
water. The same treatment will often also increase the churn- 
ability of cream which is abnormally viscous as above described. 
If warm water is added to the cream the amount of water used 
should be small, otherwise churning difficulties may arise as 
the result of too great dilution of the cream. 

Churning difficulties, not due to overloading the churn 
may also be remedied by the addition to the churn of some dry 
salt. The salt has a greater affinity for water than the casein 
has. The salt helps to precipitate or to "salt out" the curd 
due to dehydration or withdrawal of water from the casein. 
This causes the casein to contract and the cream to become 
less viscous. 

In most cases of churning difficulties not due to an over- 
loaded churn, the turning of the hot water hose over the outside 
of the revolving churn will hasten the "breaking" of the 
butter. The resulting slight warming of the churnbarrel breaks 
the adhesion of the cream to the sides of the churn, the cream 
drops and concussion is resumed. 



Washing the Butter 311 

Chapter XI. 

WASHING, SALTING AND WORKING THE BUTTER. 

Washing the Butter. 

Purpose. — The chief purpose of washing the butter is to 
free the butter granules, after the buttermilk has been drawn 
from the churn, from such remnants of buttermilk as may adhere 
to them. Other objects may be to harden the butter, in case 
the butter shows a weak body, and to remove undesirable flavors 
in case the original cream was of poor quality. 

Drawing off Buttermilk. — When the churning process is 
complete, the buttermilk is drawn from the bottom of the churn 
and the butter should be allowed to drain thoroughly. If the 
butter granules are very small their separation from the butter- 
milk and their rising to the surface, may be facilitated by the 
addition to the churn of a little cold water. When the butter- 
milk has considerable commercial value and a steady trade has 
been established for it, the practice of pouring water into the 
churn before the buttermilk is removed is obviously objection- 
able. In this case excessive loss of fat may be avoided by leav- 
ing the churning at rest for about 10 minutes before drawing 
off the buttermilk. This gives the smaller granules an op- 
portunity to rise to the surface and to attach themselves to the 
mass of butter. 

In order to avoid the escape of butter granules the butter- 
milk should be strained. In farm buttermaking the use of a 
fine hair sieve or of a dipper strainer is convenient for this 
purpose. For creamery buttermaking a cone-shape or cylindrical 
tin or wire mesh strainer is inserted in the buttermilk outlet of 
the churn. These strainers can be purchased from creamery 
supply houses. 

Addition of Water. — After the buttermilk is removed, the 
butter should be allowed to drain thoroughly. Then the wash 
water is added, using about as much water as there was but- 
termilk. The churn is then given a few revolutions to agitate 
the contents gently and to facilitate the washing of the granules. 
The wash water is then withdrawn, the butter again allowed 
to drain and the washing is repeated by the addition of a second 



312 Washing the; Butter 

batch of water. Under normal conditions this second washing 
should be practically clear. If it shows milkiness the butter 
should be washed a third time. The butter should be washed 
until the wash water runs ofif clear. Usually two washings are 
sufficient. 

If the butter comes from cream of good quality the least 
amount of washing consistent, with the complete removal of 
the free buttermilk, is preferable. Excessive exposure of the 
butter to the cold wash water tends to rob the butter of its 
fine, delicate flavor and to cause such butter to assume a more 
or less flat taste. The loss of the fine flavor is due to the power 
of the cold water to absorb some of the aromatic, volatile and 
soluble substances characteristic of good butter. Sweet cream 
and cream only slightly soured requires comparatively little wash- 
ing for the removal of the buttermilk, because the solids in such 
buttermilk are largely in solution or in very fine suspension 
similar as the solids in milk. In this fluid condition the solids 
of the buttermilk are removed readily. 

In the case of cream of poor equality, and of highly acid 
cream, it is advisable to wash the butter very thoroughly, to 
increase the number of washings and, if the butter shows very 
pronounced ofif-flavors, to hold the wash water in the churn for 
a while (10 to 20 minutes). This gives the volatile substances 
and free acids of old and overripe cream an opportunity to pass 
oflf into the wash water, liberating the butter made from such 
cream from some of its undesirable flavors and odors. An ad- 
ditional washing with sweet skim milk may greatly help to 
improve the flavor of such butter. 

Butter in the form of very small granules, washes more 
readily and more quickly than butter in the form of large granules 
and lumps, less water and less manipulation of the butter is 
required. The finer the granules the more surface is exposed 
to the wash water and the more facile the removal of the but- 
termilk. The removal of the buttermilk requires more washing 
in the case of large granules of butter. Other things being the 
same, excessive washing of very fine granules of butter is objec- 
tionable because of excessive loss of the delicate flavoring prin- 
ciples which are partly soluble in the cold water, making the 



Washinc, thk Buttkr 313 

butter flat in flavor. When butter is churned into large lumps 
there is not so much danger from this source. Small granules 
are also more sensitive to variations in temperature. All of 
these conditions point to the desirability of w^ashing small gran- 
ules of butter more rapidly and less extensively than butter 
in the form of lumps. 

In the case of churns which tend to unduly mass the but- 
ter during the washing process, thorough removal of the but- 
termilk is difficult. In such cases it is advisable to spray the 
first washing over the butter granules from the hose or by other 
means, with the buttermilk gate open, until the drain loses its 
milky appearance and then add the second washing in the usual 
way. 

Where the subsequent working of the butter is done in the 
churn, as is now the case in most American creameries, the 
washing is best done in the churn also, by giving the churn 
a few revolutions after each addition of wash water. W^here 
the butter is taken out of the churn for subsequent working, 
as is usually the case in farm buttermaking on a small scale, 
the butter may be washed in the churn before it is placed on 
the worker, or the water may be poured over the butter on the 
worker. 

As a whole, defects in the body of the butter cannot be 
overcome by any particular method of washing or temperature 
of wash water, though they may be somewhat minimized. The 
character of the body of the butter is determined prior to, and 
during the churning process, incident to the formation of the 
butter granules. If a good, solid, compact body, free from 
slushiness, leakiness and weakness is desired, the cream must 
have been cooled to the proper churning temperature and held 
there long enough to yield firm granules of butter. It is at 
this point that the stability of the emulsion of water-in-fat is 
determined. If it is not accomplished then, the butter is prone 
to have a defective body regardless of the process of washing 
and working. 

Temperature of the Wash Water. — The temperature of the 
wash water should be regulated according to the firmness or 
softness of the butter. Inasmuch as the mechanical firmness 



314 Washing thtv Butter 

of the butter is a somewhat fluctuating factor and is difficult 
of definite description, it is not feasible to lay down all-embrac- 
ing directions. 

Under all normal conditions, however, and with butter of 
reasonable firmness, wash water with a temperature of a few 
degrees (2 to 4 degrees) below the temperature of the butter- 
milk is usually advisable. Wash water much warmer, or much 
colder than this tends to have an unsatisfactory effect on the 
body and texture of the butter and may indirectly disturb the 
uniformity of the color. To a limited extent it also interferes 
with the control of moisture. 

Such v/ash water, coming in direct contact with the exterior 
of the butter granules only, causes uneven temperature and firm- 
ness of different parts of the butter. The outside of the granules 
changes in firmness according to the temperature of the wash 
water, while their interior retains the original temperature of 
the butter. In this condition the distribution of the salt and 
brine and the fusion of brine and water is made difficult and 
lacks uniformity throughout the body of the butter. This un- 
even distribution of the salt and incomplete fusion of brine and 
water invites excessive migration of brine and water after the 
butter is placed at rest (in the cold room) resulting in mottles 
or streaks in color, and particularly in the case of excessively 
warm washwater the butter is prone to show a leaky body. 

If the butter is very soft and of weak body, however, it 
may be necessary to use wash water of a temperature 5 to 
10 degrees or more lower than that of the buttermilk, and to allow 
the butter to rest in the cold water for some time to give it a 
chance to harden. In extreme cases it may be desirable to put ice 
into the churn in order to temporarily improve the body of the 
butter so it can be handled. It should be understood that when 
the cream has been properly handled before churning, especial- 
ly as to churning temperature and holding at that temperature 
before churning, there is little danger of a weak-bodied and 
leaky butter and these special precautions are unnecessary. 
These precautions refer only to churnings where the cream 
was either churned at too high a temperature or was not held 
long enough at the churning temperature, conditions which 
produce a soft, weak, slushy and leaky body. In such cases 



Washing the Buttkr 315 

they will help to minimize the defect, but an ideal body of 
butter under these conditions should not be expected, and exces- 
sively soft butter so exposed to very cold water will be prone 
to be flat and possibly tallowy in flavor. It also will not stand 
up well on the market. 

Effect of Wash Water Temperature on Moisture Content 
of Butter. — ■High temperatures of wash water tend toward a 
slight increase in moisture content of the butter. However, 
this effect on the per cent water in butter is not as marked as 
is generally believed. The butter fat is a poor conductor of heat 
and the short time during which the butter is ordinarily exposed 
to the wash water is not sufficient to materially afifect its mech- 
anical firmness, provided, of course, that the butter is in fairly 
normal condition. It should be borne in mind, however, that 
the washing of the butter in warm wash water does tend to- 
wards a softening of the butter. Though this influence seems 
to be very slight, it may be sufficient to modify the effect of 
the subsequent working. If this butter is worked with the 
churn doors closed and consequently in the presence of water 
it may take up slighly more water. When worked with the 
churn doors ajar this butter cannot take up appreciably more 
moisture. Butter washed with cold water tends to be some- 
what firmer and in this condition it may lose somewhat more 
moisture when worked with the churn doors ajar. If the tem- 
perature of the wash water does influence the moisture content 
of butter at all, the effect is indirect rather than direct and de- 
pends largely on the extent to which the butter is drained and 
worked subsequently. These facts are clearly demonstrated in 
Table 49. 

Overchurning Butter in Wash Water. — Buttermakers fre- 
quently churn their butter in the wash water for the purpose of 
moisture incorporation. 

When butter is churned in the wash water at normal tem- 
perature the butter granules gather into larger granules and 
finally into masses. If the original granules are round, smooth 
and firm, they do not readily lose their identity but remain 
largely intact. Under these conditions the churning in the wash 
water has no marked effect on the moisture content of the 



316 



Washing the Butter 



Table 49. — Effect of Temperature of Wash Water on Moisture 
Content of Butter. 

(Experiments conducted in Purdue University Creamery, 

Lafayette, Ind.)^ 



Date 


Il 
•ca 


1911 




April 4. . 


1 


April 5. . 


2 


April 7.. 


3 


April 11. 


4 


April 12. 


5 


April 12. 


6 


April 18.- 


7 


April 18. 


8 






Approx. Size of 

Granules, 

Diam. Inches 






m^Q 






3o 

O OJ 



32.0 
32.0 

33.5 
35.0 

29.5 
31.0 

32.0 
32.0 

31.0 
31.0 

30.5 
31.0 

29.5 
29.5 

29.5 
29.5 



56 
56 

56 
56 

56 
56 

56 
56 

56 
56 

56 
56 

53 
52 

55 
54 



H 



o y^ 

o K 

o % 

o % 

o 34 

o 54 

o K 

o % 

o ^ 

o ^ 

o % 

o ^ 

o 'H 

o \Vs 

o 34 

o ^4 



angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 

angular 
angular 



58 
60 

60 
60 

60 
60 

60 
60 

60 
60 

58 

58 

55 
53 

57 
54 



54 
64 

54 
64 

54 
64 

54 
64 

54 
64 

54 
64 

54 
65 

54 
65 



10 
10 

15 
15 

15 
IS 

15 
15 

15 
15 

10 
10 

15 
15 

15 
15 



18 
18 

16 
16 

16 
16 

20 
12 

12 
12 

18 
18 

18 
18 

14 
14 



13.64 
14.24 

15.45 
15.95 

16.31 
14.75 

15.38 
14.99 

15.07 
15.79 

13.22 
13.52 

13.30 
13.91 

14.64 
14.54 



Average at 54 degrees ¥ 

Average at 64 degrees to 65 degrees F. 



14.62 
14.71 



1 Experiments 1, 6 and 7 were made with the Disbrow churn. Experiments 
2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were made with the Simplex churn. All cream was pasteurized 
at 170 degrees to 180 degrees F. The cream for each churning of the same 
experiment was taken from the same vat. The amount of cream used in the 
churnings of the different experiments varied from 250 to 2000 pounds. The 
same amount of cream was used for each churning of the same experiment. 
In each churning the butter was salted dry and worked with the churn gates 
open. 

Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin 
160, 1913, 



Washing the Butter 



317 



finished butter. If the original butter granules are irregular in 
shape, flaky and soft, they mass together very readily and largely 
lose their identity, forming solid lumps and masses. The pound- 
ing of the butter into compact masses tends to expel moisture 
rather than incorporate it, causing a decrease in the moisture 
content of the finished butter, unless this butter is later worked 
in the presence of water for the purpose of incorporating more 
moisture. 

The above facts are conclusively borne out by experimental 
results as shown in the following tables : 

Table 50. — ^Showing EflFect of Over-Churning Butter in Wash 
Water on the Moisture Content of Butter.^ 



DATE 


C j^ 

11 




III 


° 2 

Pi 


lis 


CO a g 


§■0 


O M 

.S S a 

ik 


h 

oP 




1910 






















November 10... 


1 


24 


52' 


.1 

4 


56 


56 


15 


§ 


18 


15.01 






24 


52 


I 


56 


56 


50 


3i 


18 


15.74 






24 


52 


X 
4 


56 


56 


225 


8 


18 


16.48 


November 14. .. 


2 


23 


54 


i 


58 


54 


10 


i 


13 


15.52 






23 


54 


\i 


58 


54 


150 


1 


13 


15.78 






23 


54 


i 


59 


54 


225 


3* 


13 


14.89 


November 15. .. 


3 


26 


47 


i 


57 


52 


10 


i 


13 


15.35 






26 


47 


I 


56 


52 


150 


3i 


13 


15.35 






26 


47 


I 
•t 


56 


52 


225 


8 


13 


14.31 


Average for 10 1 


o 15 

o 15( 

revc 


revolutions 
) revolution 














15.29 


Average for 50 t 
Average for 225 














15.62 


lution 


s.,. . . 














15.22 








. 













1 Hunziker. MiUs & Spitzor 
160, pp. 394 and 395. 



Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin 



Twenty-four hundred pounds of cream were used for each individual 
churning. All cream was pasteurized at 175 degrees F. The butter in 
Experiment 1 was salted wet and worked with the churn gate open; the 
butter in experiments 2 and 3 was dry-salted, worked one revolution with 
the churn gate closed, then finished with the churn gate open. The Victor 
churn, size 1, was used in these experiments. 

Twenty-four hundred and seventy-seven pounds of cream were used 
for each individual churning. The cream was pasteurized at 150 degrees 



318 



Washing thf; Butter 



F. In Experiments 1 and 3 the butter was salted dry and worked with 
the churn gates open; in Experiment 2 the butter was salted dry and 
worked seven revolutions with the gates closed, then finished with the 
churn gates open. The Simplex churn No. 9 was used in these experi- 
ments. 



DATE 



1910 
November 29... 



November 30. . 



December 1 . . 









^ 


?>. 


Pi 


tfSfe 


R--S 


^4 


Sfeg 

sag 


EogM 

. 






28.5 


54 


i 


28.5 


54 


i 


31.0 


52 


3 

8 


31.0 


52 


i 


28.0 


58 


i 


28.0 


59 


I 



57 
59 

58 
59 

60 
60 



■sll 

Qd H a> 
1^0 











° s 






<o ™;-0 




o-o 


^1^ 


11 


f 







S(2 



57 


6 


g 


18 


57 


50 


8 


18 


58 


6 


f 


19 


58 


50 


3^ 


19 


58 


6 


3 

S 


19 


58 


50 


8 


19 



15.64 
14.51 

15.51 
13.28 

14.80 
13.65 



Average of 6 revolutions washed., 
Average of 50 revolutions M'ashed, 



15.31 
13.81 



How to Regulate the Wash Water Temperature. — In locali- 
ties where the available water is naturally cool (50° F, or below), 
such as is the case in the northern states and in the moun- 
tainous regions with running springs, as well as in most locali- 
ties within the dairy belt in winter, the matter of regulating 
the temperature of the wash \Vater resolves itself merely into 
a proper arrangement for heating. In such cases the installa- 
tion of a noiseless water heater or similar home-made device 
and with an outlet directly over the churn, furnishes the usual 
equipment to temper the wash water to the desired temperature. 
In the summer season, however, the water supply of a great many 
creameries is too warm. This is true especially in the central and 
southern tier of the dairy belt. Under such conditions it is neces- 
sary to provide for some simple and practical system of cooling 
the water. In small creameries which have no artificial refriger- 
ating plant this is conveniently accomplished by placing a vat 
on a platform high enough for the water to run into the churn 
by gravity. The temperature of the water in this vat is lowered 



Washing the Butter 5 10 

by the addition to it of ice. In the absence of a stationary plat- 
form the vat may be placed on a truck which can be moved up 
to the churn when the wash water is needed. In creameries 
operating an artificial refrigerating machine, a large stationary 
vat may be installed at some elevation or on the second floor. 
This vat should be properly insulated on the sides, bottom and 
top and equipped with a brine coil or ammonia coil whereby the 
water may be cooled to any temperature. The water is piped 
from this vat to the churn where it is connected with the steam 
line. This arrangement furnishes a practical and reasonably 
efficient means to regulate the temperature of the wash water 
as desired for the one-churn creamery. 

For larger creameries which operate numerous churns, 
greater uniformity of temperature is assured and less time is 
consumed for temperature control, where the wash water equip- 
ment is so arranged as to have the cold water from the brine- 
cooled sweet water tank on the second floor, discharge into a 
tempering tank elevated in the creamery and equipped with 
large thermometer gauge and steam supply. Then have from 
the bottom of this tempering tank a two-inch water line extend 
over the entire row of churns with a lateral and valve over 
each churn. 

In this manner the wash water for numerous churnings 
can be tempered to the desired temperature simultaneously and 
when the churnman is ready for the wash water, all he has to 
do is to open the valve over any one of the churns where it 
is needed. 

The same equipment can also serve for the hotwater supply 
for rinsing and washing the churns after use. 

In other factories, portable tempering tanks are used. In 
this case, the tap water, cold water and steam line outlets are 
generally located at some distance from the churns, in a con- 
venient and readily accessible place and at a sufficient height 
so that a portable wash water tank on a truck can be backed 
under these outlets and filled. The use of a suitably constructed 
tank on wheels, holding about 100 to ISO gallons and standing 
high enough so that the gate of the tank clears the bottom of 
the door frame of the churn, when the churn is in position to 



320 Washing the: Butte;r 

receive the wash water, has been found serviceable and con- 
venient for this purpose. 

The same arrangement is useful also for transferring the 
hot water to the empty churn, for washing and rinsing at the 
close of the day's work and for rinsing the churn with cold 
water preparatory to filling it with cream. 

Purity of Wash Water. — It is obvious that the water used 
for washing the butter should be pure. It should be free from 
excessive organic and mineral matter, from undesirable bacteria, 
yeast and mold and from grit or sand. Water from shallow 
wells, ponds, creeks, lakes and similar sources is unsafe on ac- 
count of the danger of contamination with organic and biolog- 
ical impurities which may prove detrimental to the quality of 
butter. Such water should be pasteurized or filtered, or both, 
in order to render it harmless. In rare cases spring and deep 
well water may contain an excess of mineral constituents, 
such as compounds of iron, sulphur, etc., which, if used for 
washing the butter may greatly impair its flavor ; such water is 
unsuitable for use in the creamery. Frequently the water con- 
tains sand and grit which, when used for washing butter, is 
incorporated in it and ofifends the good humor of the consumer. 
Sand may get into the water where a new well is used, or 
where the water supply line is being repaired, or in the case of 
leaky underground conduits during heavy rains, or from roily 
river water during times of freshets. In most of these cases 
the presence of sand is temporary only and, while it lasts, it 
may be kept away from the butter by either permitting it to 
settle out in a storage tank, or by attaching' a fine mesh strainer, 
or tying several thicknesses of cheesecloth over the end of the 
pipe, that discharges into the churn, or by filtration. 

Wherever the purity of the wash water is uncertain, it is 
advisable to permanently install some form of water purifier. 
For the removal of organic matter and grit, water filters should 
be used. When used properly, a cotton filter may serve the 
purpose well. Filters of the type of the "International Filter," 
in which the water is forced under pressure through a thick 
layer of Cotton batten, with a heavy sheet of muslin at top and 
bottom, have been found very useful. The renewal of these 



Washing the Buttkr 321 

filters is simple and inexpensive. The muslin is laundried and 
used over again while the soiled cotton, charged with impurities, 
is replaced by a new layer. These filters have the additional 
advantage of taking up very little space. 

If the creamery is troubled with roily water, these cotton 
filters are not practical, because they clog rapidly. In such cases 
sand, gravel and coke filters are preferable. Home-made filters 
of this type have been found somewhat cumbersome, owing to 
the attention and extra work which their care involves. There 
are on the market, however, very compact and practical specimens 
of these sand, gravel and coke filters which require but little at- 
tention and which are capable of freeing the water from its 
grit and probably from much of its organic matter. They con- 
sist of a closed iron drum which contains the filtering material 
and through which the water is forced, and are equipped with a 
rotary agitator. For cleaning, the current of water through 
the filter is reversed and the agitator is rotated. The opera- 
tion of cleaning the filtering material requires but very little 
time (about 10 minutes) and if this is done daily, and in ac- 
cordance with directions furnished by the manufacturer, these 
filters can be depended upon to do the work expected of them 
very efificiently. 

For the effective removal of micro-organisms from the water, 
the efficiency of any of these filters is somewhat questionable. 
Bacteriological analyses of the filtered water show variable re- 
sults, probably depending on the condition and care of the 
filter. Under ordinary creamery conditions they can hardly be 
considered a reliable means to free the water from objectionable 
germ life. 

In order to render water sterile or nearly so, high tem- 
perature pasteurization of the water may be practiced, but it 
requires considerable equipment, time and fuel, for heating and 
cooling. Of late years, for the sterilization of drinking water, 
water for swimming pools, etc, the ultra violet ray process has 
been found very suitable and its use is rapidly gaining. Its 
efficiency has been established by Government tests.^ At the 
present writing there are no creameries as yet which are using 



1 Public Health Report, Vol. 31, No. 41, Oct., 1916. U. S. Public Health 
Service. 



322 vSalting the Butter 

this method of water purification, but the increasing adaptation 
of electric power to creamery purposes, together with the effi- 
ciency of the process, suggests the possibilities of this method 
of purifying the water used for washing butter. The initial ex- 
pense of an equipment of suitable capacity is somewhat high 
and therefore probably beyond the reach of the small creamery. 
The operating expense on the basis of 5 cents per K. W. is about 
one quarter of one cent per gallon of water. Inasmuch as this 
process is effective only with perfectly clear water and does not 
sterilize water that is roily, its use would necessitate preparatory 
filtration of the water in the case of water that is not naturally 
clear. 

Wherever the water intended for washing the butter is 
stored in a tank reserved for this purpose, great care should 
be taken, that this sweet water tank is kept clean, and free 
from accumulations of organic matter. It should be completely 
emptied and cleaned out, if necessary, with the use of odorless 
disinfectants, at regular intervals. The brine or ammonia coils 
in these tanks should be painted with suitable paint, so as to 
avoid rusting and the consequent pollution of the water with 
rust. 

Creameries located in large towns or cities usually have 
access to the water supply of municipal corporations. This 
often solves for them the problem of pure water, but the use 
of a good filter is recommended even in these cases. 



SALTING THE BUTTER. 

Purpose. — The fundamental object for which salt is added 
to butter is to lend it the flavor desired by the consumer — to 
season it. Formerly it was believed that salted butter kept 
better in storage, but experimental data, as well as experience, 
have demonstrated that while salt has undisputed antiseptic 
properties, it has no material effect on the keeping quality of 
butter. The addition of salt to butter is of importance to the 
creamery also, because with salted butter a larger overrun is 
secured than with unsalted butter. This is due to the fact 
that the salt replaces a portion of the butterfat. 



Sai^ting the Butter 323 

Amount of Salt. — The amount of salt that should be added 
to butter should depend primarily on the market for which the 
butter is intended. The salt requirements of different markets 
vary somewhat. American markets demand a relatively highly 
salted butter, with the exception of the Jewish trade which re- 
quires unsalted butter. The English markets call for a butter 
that is lightly salted, while continental Europe, especially 
France, Southern Germany, Switzerland, etc., demand unsalted 
butter. Thus the salt content of butter, as regulated by different 
markets, may vary from no salt to about four per cent of salt. 

In reality, however, the salt requirements of different 
markets where salted butter is wanted, are salt tolerances rather 
than requirements; i. e. there is not really a very marked dif- 
ference in the amount of salt which the salted butter trade 
demands, but it is rather a question of how much salt the trade 
will stand for or tolerate. The manufacturer of butter natural- 
ly aims to salt his butter heavily, because salt is cheaper than 
butterfat. He will furnish the trade just as highly salted but- 
ter, within the limitations regulated by effect on quality, as the 
trade will accept and tolerate. Some markets are more critical 
and quicker to resent the imposition than others, but none really 
demand a very highly salted butter. 

The salt content of butter intended for one and the same 
market should be uniform. Variations in the salt content of 
butter are detected by the consumer more easily than similar 
variations of any other ingredient of butter. Uniformity of 
salt content is, therefore, important in order to satisfy the trade. 
In order to accomplish this, the amount of salt to be added 
to any given churning should be based on the most constant 
factor. On farm dairies and in whole milk creameries the 
amount of salt is frequently calculated per hundred weight of 
milk. In this case from three to four ounces of salt per 100 
pounds of milk would produce a moderately salted butter. This 
method gives fairly uniform results. Others are determining 
the amount of salt needed on the basis of the amount of cream 
in the churn. With the greater variability of the richness of the 
cream, this method obviously may frequently lack in uniformity 
of results. In the case of cream testing about 30 per cent fat, 
for instance, from one and three-quarter to two and one-half 



324 vSalting the; Butter 

ounces of salt per gallon of cream would yield a butter with 
a moderate salt content. On farm dairies and in creameries 
where the butter is taken out of the churn and placed on a 
separate worker, the required amount of salt is usually deter- 
mined by the weight of the butter, using from one-half to three- 
quarters of one ounce of salt for every pound of butter for 
medium salted butter. Where the butter is worked and salted 
in the churn this method is not practical. Today the great 
majority of creameries are basing the amount of salt to be used, 
on the pounds of butterfat in the churn, as calculated by the 
weight and test of the cream. This is by far the most accurate 
and most satisfactory method. Experience has shown that the 
proper amount of salt for the average American market is about 
three-quarter to one and one-half ounces of salt per pound of 
butterfat. These figures are based on a desired salt content of 
from 2.5 to 3.5 per cent under average conditions and methods 
of salt incorporation, the latter being relatively crude from the 
point of view of economy of salt. For salt tests see "Deter- 
mination of Salt in Butter," Chapter XXII. 

Where the method of manufacture and other conditions are 
fairly constant from day to day, this ratio makes it possible 
to produce butter with a reasonably uniform salt content. How- 
ever, the portion of salt that remains in the butter depends, 
aside from the amount added, on such factors as size and con- 
dition of butter granules, amount of working which the butter 
receives before and after salting, the condition and amount of 
moisture in butter at the time the salt is added, the method 
of salting, whether the salt is added in dry form, in wet form, 
or in the form of brine, and the type of salt crystals. 

Size and Condition of Butter Granules, — If the butter con- 
sists of small, round and very firm granules the salt is dissolved, 
distributed and held by the butter with diffi,culty, and much 
of the salt is lost in the expelled brine. If the butter is reason- 
ably firm and the granules large and irregular, or if the but- 
ter granules have united into large lumps, the salt can be 
worked into the butter more readily, there is less expulsion 
of brine and therefore a relatively large proportion of the salt 
added is absorbed by the butter. For this reason the trench 
system of salting assists in the economic use of the salt, 



Salting the; Butter 325 

If part of the working is done before salting, or if the but- 
ter has been allowed to drain thoroughly before salting and the 
churn gates are closed after the salt is added there is relatively 
little loss of salt. In this case the loss of salt may not exceed 
.5 per cent under favorable conditions. 

Amount and Condition of Moisture. — Butterfat is no solvent 
of salt. In order for the salt to dissolve in the butter there 
must be moisture present. The more moisture butter contains, 
the more salt it is capable of holding in solution. Butter with 
a low moisture content cannot hold much salt in solution. Ef- 
forts to incorporate a high per cent of salt in dry butter usually 
result in overworking and in gritty butter. 

If the moisture is properly incorporated in the butter, the 
slat will also remain there, and butter containing' a large amount 
of properly incorporated moisture is therefore capable of re- 
taining a relatively high per cent of salt. If the moisture is 
incorporated loosely, resulting in leaky butter, the escape of 
moisture in the working and packing is great, and there is a 
relatively large loss of salt, which causes the salt content of 
the finished butter to be low, although, owing to the presence 
of free brine such butter usually tastes very briny. (See also 
Chapter XVIII on Composition of Butter.) 

Method of Salting. — The salt is added to the butter either 
in dry form, as a wet mash, or in the form of brine. 

Dry Salting Method. — This is the most common method 
used. The salt is sprinkled over the butter in the churn, in 
the trench, or on the workers and then worked into the but- 
ter until it is dissolved and evenly distributed. When the but- 
ter is of medium firmness this method works satisfactorily and 
there is little danger from grittiness and mottles. In the case 
of very firm and hard butter the distribution and solution of 
the dry salt, is more difficult and requires often excessive work- 
ing, which in turn tends to make an inferior texture of butter. 
More often, however, the working is stopped before the salt 
is thoroughly dissolved and the butter remains gritty and may 
become mottled. In the case of very soft and slushy butter the 
dry salt kernels become coated with a film of fat before they 



326 Sai^ting THie Butter 

have an opportunity to take up enoug^h moisture to insure com- 
plete solution. Such butter renders the complete solution of 
the salt difficult, and is almost invariably gritty. 

Wet Salting Method. — In this method the salt is moistened 
either by pouring water over the dry salt already sprinkled over 
the butter, or placed into the trench and before working, or 
enough water is added to the salt in a tub or pail before 
the salt is put into the churn, to make a salt mash. In order 
to secure a satisfactory mash slightly less than one half as much 
water as there is salt, by weight, should be mixed with the salt. 
This mash is then distributed over the butter, or placed into 
the trench, then the trench is closed and the butter is worked. 
This method of wet salting is very satisfactory and preferable 
under many conditions to the dry salting method. There is less 
danger of a coarse, briny flavor, gritty butter and mottles, be- 
cause the salt is given more favorable conditions for complete 
solution and the brine formed has a chance to completely fuse 
with the finely divided water in the butter. This largely removes 
the difficulties above cited when salting very firm and very 
soft and slushy butter. 

In churns in which the reduction of moisture is not ac- 
complished readily, as is frequently the case with certain makes 
of churns, wet salting slightly increases the tendency toward ex- 
cessive moisture. This can be readily avoided, however, by drain- 
ing- the butter more competely before salting. If the bottom of 
the buttermilk gate happens to be located considerably above 
the bottom of the churn, so that it is impossible to drain all 
the free water from the churn, the butter should be drained 
through the churn doors. 

It is frequently claimed that salting lowers the per cent 
salt retained in the finished butter. This is not borne out in 
practice. In fact the salt crystals in the mash, because of their 
ability to go into complete solution quickly do not draw the 
water droplets of the butter out as much as the dry crystals 
and therefore are more readily permanently incorporated in the 
form of brine. 

Brine Salting. — In this method the salt is previously dis- 
cjolved in water, making a saturated salt solution. In order 



Salting thk Butter 327 

to secure a brine of maximum saturation and to hasten the 
solution of the salt, the salt may be dissolved in hot water and 
the brine is then cooled to the proper temperature suitable for 
addition to the butter. This is the ideal way of salting from 
the point of view of completeness of solution, uniform distribu- 
tion of salt, and absence of a coarse, briny flavor and grittiness. 
However this method is practical only where a very light salt in 
butter is desired. It is impossible to incorporate a high salt 
content with this method. Brine-salted butter contains only from 
one to two per cent salt. And even in order to incorporate 
the maximum of two per cent salt by this method it is neces- 
sary to use two separate batches of brine. One batch may be 
used in the place of the second washing and the butter has to 
be churned considerably in this. The brine left in the butter 
after this brine washing is naturally very dilute. After the 
first batch of brine has been drawn ofif the second batch is added. 
This is left with the butter for five to fifteen minutes. Care 
should be taken not to work the butter in the brine excessively 
in the case of soft butter, in order not to incorporate excessive 
moisture. After the second batch of brine is drawn ofif the 
working is completed. The butter should be worked only en- 
ough to properly distribute- the brine and to bring the butter 
together in a compact mass for easy handling. 

Butter with so low a salt content does not meet the require- 
ments of the majority of American markets for salted butter, 
hence this method is not commonly used in our creameries. The 
brine-salting method has the further disadvantages of being ex- 
cessively laborious and wasteful of salt and the low salt content 
of the finished product obviously results in a relatively low 
overrun. In the spring of the year there is always more or 
less danger of excessive moisture where the brine-salting method 
is practiced. 

Type of Salt Crystals. — The ease with which salt dissolves 
and is incorporated in butter is also influenced by the type of 
crystals of the salt. Cube crystals which have the smallest 
relative surface in proportion to their cubic content absorb water 
and dissolve, more slowly than flake crystals, unless the size of 
the cube crystals is reduced to the point where their relation of 



328 



Salting thiv Butter 



Type of Salt Crystals of Buttersalts 

Magnified 20 times 




Fig-. 52. Diamond Crystal Salt 



Tig. 53. Worcester Salt 



Salting thb Butter 329 

surface to cubic content is similar to that of the coarser flake 
crystals. 

Quality of Salt. — It is important that the salt used for but- 
termaking be of the very best quality. It should have a high 
degree of purity both bacteriologically and chemically, it should 
be of the proper physical consistency and should be protected 
from influences that jeopardize its bacteriological, chemical and 
physical fitness for use in the creamery. 

Bacteriological Purity of Butter Salt. — It is obvious that 
the salt should be as free as possible from germ life, lest it 
become a source of contamination of the butter. The better 
brands of butter salt on the market come from the salines in 
practically sterile condition. The latest improved processes 
through which the brine passes from the time it is pumped from 
a depth of several thousand feet in the ground, till it is sealed 
in the paper-lined barrels are such, as largely to eleminate any 
micro-organisms originally present in the brine, and the hand- 
ling of the finished salt occurs under conditions highly sanitary 
and reduces the danger of contamination of the finished product 
to the minimum. The increasing concentration of the brine 
during the process and the practically complete absence of mois- 
ture in the salt when packed, in themselves, are conditions antag- 
onistic to the life of germs. The heat to which the brine and 
salt are subjected before and incident to the evaporation and 
again in the final dryers, is destructive to all germ life and the 
packing of the salt is done exclusively by machinery and while 
still hot, thus removing the possibility of recontamination prac- 
tically entirely. 

Bacteriological analyses of the salt in the sealed barrels have 
shown such salt to be either entirely sterile or to contain less 
than 10 germs per gram. When barrels are opened in the 
creamery, hov\'ever, and are left uncovered and exposed to damp- 
ness and impure air, for a prolonged period of time, as is the 
case in a great many creameries, the salt becomes damp and 
often contains large numbers of bacteria, particularly the types 
of micro-organisms which render the butter rancid and cheesy 
and possibly moldy. A\^eigmann^ reports cases where the up- 



^ Weigmann, Versuche zur Bereitung von Dauerbutter, Mllchwlrtschaf t- 
liches Zentralblatt, Vol. 44, No. 23, p. 364, 1915. 



330 Salting the; Butte;r 

per layers of salt in an open receptacle contained as high as 
32,000 germs per gram, consisting largely of liquefying and non- 
liquefying micrococci, alkali bacilli, lactic acid bacteria, yeast, 
Bacterium mycoides, Mucor, Penicillium Actinomyces and other 
spore forms. These facts obviously show that butter salt ex- 
posed to the atmosphere may become contaminated with many 
species of micro-organisms, some of which are of the type 
dangerous to the flavor and keeping quality of butter. They 
emphasize the importance of keeping the salt well covered after 
the barrel is once opened. In a properly managed creamery 
there should be provided proper covers for the barrels that 
have been opened and not completely emptied, in order to avoid 
this unnecessary source of contamination of the butter. 

Some creameries are equipped with a salt chest, or bin, or 
box, into which they empty and in which they store the salt. 
These boxes are more conveniently accessible than the barrels. 
They should be equipped with a well fitting cover and located 
away from excessive dampness. It is advisable to not fill them 
with more than one barrel of salt at a time, as the original seal 
of the unopened barrel furnishes better protection than the 
creamery salt chest. 

Chemical Purity of Butter Salt. — ^The best buttersalts con- 
tain from 98 to over 99 per cent pure sodium chloride. The 
salts of commerce contain besides sodium chloride, small but 
varying amounts of gypsum, calcium chloride and magnesium 
chloride. All of these impurities, when present in considerable 
quantities, are undesirable from the standpoint of the quality of 
butter. The gypsum reduces the solubility of the salt and the 
magnesium chloride tends to give butter a distinct bitter flavor. 
The salts of magnesium also are very strongly hydroscopic, 
augmenting the tendency of the butter salt in storage when ex- 
posed to the air, to absorb moisture and to become damp and 
lumpy. The butter salt should also be free from mechanical 
impurities such as dust, dirt and other organic matter. 

The chemical purity of the salt is determined largely by 
the purity of the brine and the process of manufacture used for 
the elimination of the natural impurities contained in the brine. 
The purity of the brine varies very considerably with the locali- 



Salting tpis Butter 331 

ty, in some localities the wells yield a brine of a relatively high 
degree of chemical purity, while in other localities the admixture 
of undesirable minerals and mineral salts, such as gypsum and 
magnesium chloride, iron, etc. is very marked. For this reason 
there is a wide difference in the need of purifying processes 
used in the different salines, in order to attain purity. 

The brine from which the butter salt is manufactured in 
this country is secured from wells which reach salt deposits 
which lie anywhere from 1500 to 3000 feet below the surface. 
When the salt stratum is to be penetrated a double pipe is put 
down. The outer one, which represents the diameter of the well, 
about 6^- inches, reaches the top of the salt bed, while the inner 
tube which measures from 3.^ to 4-;^ inches in diameter, goes clear 
through to the bottom of the salt deposit. Fresh water is 
pumped down the outer tube. This dissolves the rock salt, and 
the brine thus formed under continued pressure, rises to the 
surface through the inner tube and is conveyed to large tanks, 
the settling tanks, where it is allowed to settle and clarify. 
From this point on the brine is passed through one of three 
processes, the grainer process, the vacuum process, or the i^hls- 
berg process. These processes largely determine the degree of 
purity of the salt and the shape of the salt crystals. 

The Grainer Process is the oldest process. It simply con- 
sists of pumping the brine from the storage or settling tanks 
into large evaporating vats equipped with steam coils which are 
charged with exhaust steam. In these vats the brine is heated 
to the boiling point under atmospheric pressure. As the water 
evaporates, crystals form on the surface where evaporation is 
most rapid. These crystals unite into larger aggregates, which 
gradually drop to the bottom and are drawn out of these vats 
by mechanical, slowly-moving rakes. These salt crystals are 
piled on a platform where they are allowed to drain or they 
are centrifuged to remove the bulk of the water and are then 
subsequently dried and run through sieves. No attempt is made 
in this process to purify the brine from mineral impurities, 
except possibly to bleach it by addition of small quantities of 
lime. The chemical purity of the salt made from this brine 
will therefore almost wholly depend on the natural purity of 



332 Sai^ting the Butter 

the brine. The slow evaporation at a relatively high heat 
causes the salt crystals to be relatively large and flaky, the 
individual crystals appear to have rhomboid shape, they gather 
into clusters forming large crystals, of the shape of hollow 
pyramids. 

In the Vacuum Process the brine is conveyed from the 
storage tanks to large heating tanks, where its temperature is 
raised so that as soon as it enters the vacuum pan evaporation 
commences. In the vacuum pans, which are huge iron retorts, 
the brine is evaporated at relatively low temperatures under 
reduced pressure. The evaporation is very rapid. From the 
vacuum pan the crystals are conveyed to centrifuges, where 
they are freed from about 95 per cent of their water. From 
here on the process of drying and sifting is similar to that of 
the Grainer process. In the vacuum process in some factories 
mineral impurities are removed, in part at least, through a dis- 
charge chamber in the bottom of the pan in which the "bitter 
water," being heavier than brine and remaining in solution 
longer, collects. The crystals produced by this process, as the 
result of rapid evaporation at low temperature, are cube shape, 
they are very small and remarkably uniform in size. 

In the Ahlsberg Process the brine is pumped through heat- 
ers where it is subjected to very high temperature (about 280° F.) 
under pressure. These heaters resemble water-tube boilers, the 
brine flowing through the tubes and the spaces between the 
tubes being charged with steam. In these heaters the brine 
deposites its gypsum and other impurities forming a coating 
on the tubes, which is daily removed by steel drills. From 
these heaters the brine passes through gravel filters which 
furnish an additional means to deposit the gypsum. From 
here the brine enters large circular evaporating vats. As soon 
as its pressure is released and the brine passes into these vats, 
crystallization sets in. From these crystallizing vats the wet 
salt passes through centrifuges for the removal of the bulk of 
the water, and the dryers and sieves as described in the Grainer 
and Vacuum process. The Ahlsberg process is particularly 
adapted for salines whose brine supply contains considerable 
mineral impurities, such as gypsum and which it is capable 



Salting thk Butter 



333 



of very efficiently removing. Crystallization takes place very 
rapidly and at high temperature and the crystals are flaky and 
of rhomboid shape. 



Table 51. — Chemical Analyses of Butter Salts, 
These analyses refer to butter salts only. 



Brand of 
Butter Salt 


Analyses 
Made By 


•a 

sg 
as 

•o 


s 

€- 

as 

■3 


sg 


■2og 


1 
Sg 

a 


11 

S g 


Anchor 


Wisconsin^ 


97.79 


1.48 


.28 


.08 


.06 


.31 


Ashton 


Wisconsin^ 


98.01 


1.47 


.20 


.16 


.03 


.18 


Australian Dairy 


Canada^ 


97.90 


1.03 


.39 


.02 


.38 


.28 


Canfield and 
















Wheeler 


Wisconsin* 


98.18 


1.21 


.22 


.12 


.04 


.23 


Chippewa 


Connecticut^ 


98.79 


1.01 


.00 


.03 


.05 


.12 


Colonial 


Cornell' 


99.53 


.29 


.09 


.02 


.03 


.06 


DiamondCrystal 


Wisconsin* 


99.18 


.54 


.19 


.05 


.03 


.01 


DiamondCrystal 


Connecticut' 


99.50 


.45 


.00 


.04 


.01 


.00 


DiamondCrystal 


Connecticut' 


99.54 


.30 


.00 


.07 


.01 


.08 


DiamondCrystal 


Maine' 


99.71 


.23 


.00 


.06 


.00 


.00 


Dominion Dairy 


Canada"" 


96.04 


1.44 


.92 


.00 


.00 


1.60 


Eagle 


Canada^ 


98.98 


.47 


.41 


.00 


.00 


.14 


English Dairy 


Canada^ 


97.90 


1.57 


.18 


.00 


.00 


.35 


Extra Dairy 


Canada^ 


96.15 


.91 


.84 


.00 


1.90 


.20 


Genesee 


Wisconsin* 


98.27 


1.11 


.24 


.07 


.04 


.16 


Le Roy 


Canada^ 


96.88 


1.40 


.10 


.07 


1.05 


.50 


Le Roy 


Wisconsin* 


98.15 


1.31 


.39 


.08 


.01 


.06 


Imperial 


Maine' 


98.02 


1.23 


.29 


.04 


.15 


.27 


Peerless 


Maine" 


98.12 


1.14 


.21 


.13 


.00 


.40 


Port Huron 


Canada' 


97.31 


1.66 


.23 


.00 


.00 


.80 


Purity 


Connecticut" 


98.53 


1.01 


.00 


.11 


.02 


.33 


Warsaw 


Wisconsin* 


98.57 


.92 


.25 


.07 


.02 


.17 


Windsor 


Canada^ 


98.08 


1.16 


.00 


.36 


.00 


.40 


Worcester 


Wisconsin* 


98.57 


.92 


.25 


.07 


.02 


.17 


Worcester 


Connecticut' 


98.94 


.59 


.19 


.07 


.01 


.20 


Worcester 


Maine' 


98.53 


.82 


.07 


.13 


.10 


.35 



1 Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 74, 1889. 
» Canada Internal Revenue Department, Bulletin 128, 1906. 

• Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station Report, 1907-1908. 

* Cornell University, Analysis by Prof. H. C. Troy, Chemist, 1919. 
6 Maine Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report, 1910. 



334 Salting the Butter 

The final drying process of all butter salt is the same. The 
driers are huge, cylindrical, revolving drums, 32 to 35 feet in 
length, and six feet in diameter and set at an incline so that 
the salt may travel slowly from one end of the drier to the 
other. Heat is supplied by means of steam pipes which pass 
through the driers. The temperature in these driers is about 
280° F. The hot salt coming from the driers is then sifted. 
For butter salt, wire sieves with 25 to 30 meshes to the inch 
are used. After sifting, the salt is ready to be packed. 

Most of the better butter salts contain these chemical 
impurities in exceedingly small amounts only, are practically 
entirely free from insoluble matter and contain les^ than .5 
per cent of moisture. The foregoing table shows analyses of 
diverse salts and indicates their relative freedom from chemical 
impurities. 

In the consideration of the chemical analyses of butter salts, 
as shown in table 51, it should be understood that the composi- 
tion of different lots of one and the same brand not infrequently 
varies quite considerably, so that an unbiased and fair con- 
clusion concerning the relative merits of the several salts, 
based on their standard of chemical purity is possible only, 
when the respective analyses represent averages of a large 
number of samples of each brand in question. 

Many of the analyses shown in table 51 represent but one 
sample of the respective brands and even in the case of figures 
which do represent averages, only a comparatively few sam- 
ples of the respective brands served to make up these aver- 
ages. For these reasons it is obvious that the figures in table 
51 should be accepted only as a general guide and should not 
be looked upon as a guarantee of the standard of chemical 
purity of the brands involved. 

Physical Condition of the Salt. — It is very important that 
the salt be present in the form of crystals of the proper form 
and size. This factor controls its readiness to dissolve and 
its ease of being retained in the butter. The crystals must be 
of medium coarseness. When the crystals are excessively large 
they dissolve with comparative difficulty, tending toward gritty 



SALTiN(i iiiK Butter 335 

butter, or necessitating- the overworking of the butter. Their 
distribution also tends to be less uniform, the individual crys- 
tals are farther apart so that their action on the casein and the 
expulsion of buttermilk are uneven, and the fusion of brine and 
water in the butter is slow and relatively incomplete. This in 
turn tends to cause an uneven color in butter. 

When the salt crystals are too fine, the salt is prone to be 
pasty, which renders its uniform distribution difficult. Exces- 
sively small crystals hinder the expulsion of buttermilk because 
the drops of buttermilk which each crystal is capable of tak- 
ing up are so small, that their complete and ready expulsion 
is hampered. 

Salt crystals of medium size, and which will pass through 
a screen having 25 to 30 meshes to the inch, are best suited 
for butter salt. 

With reference to the shape or form of the salt crystals, 
the butter salts are divided into two classes, the flake crystal 
salt and the cube crystal salt. The flake grain represents a 
thin and flat crystal usually of rhomboid or pyramid form, while 
the cube crystal grain appears in the form of regular-shaped 
solid cubes. Since the flake grain, with the flat thin crystal, 
exposes more surface in proportion to its cubic contents, than 
the cube crystal with its cube shape, it is obvious that the flake 
grain salt dissolves somewhat more readily and is therefore bet- 
ter suited for butter salt than the cube crystal grain, unless the 
cube salt is of sufficiently smaller grain to reduce the cubic con- 
tents of the cube crystals in proportion to their surfaces to 
that of the coarser crystals of the flake salt. The difference in 
the shape of the crystals is due to the temperature at which 
the brine is evaporated. The flake grains are the product of 
evaporation at a high temperature (under atmospheric pres- 
sure) while the cube crystal grains result from evaporation at 
a relatively low temperature (in partial vacuum). 

Solubility of Buttersalts. — The solubility and rapidity of 
solution of Colonial, Diamond Crystal and Worcester butter 
salts, representing the Grainer, the Ahlsberg and the Vacuum 



336 Salting the Butter 

process, respectively, were tested by Hunziker and Hosman.* 
In the case of butter containing 16% water, and assuming that 
all the water in the butter were accessible to the salt, these 
results would indicate the following: 

With a 2 per cent salt content in the butter the brine would 
contain 11.11 per cent salt. This concentration was reached in 
5 seconds with the Colonial and the Diamond Crystal salts, and 
in 5^ seconds in the case of the Worcester salt. 

With a 3 per cent salt content in the butter the brine would 
contain 15.78 per cent salt. This concentration was reached in 
6^ seconds with the Colonial and Diamond Crystal salts, and in 
7 seconds with the Worcester salt. 

With a 4 per cent salt content in the butter the brine would 
contain 20 per cent salt. This concentration was reached in 8 
seconds with the Colonial and Diamond Crystal salts, and in 

9 seconds with the Worcester salt. 

With a 5 per cent salt content in the butter the brine would 
contain 23.8 per cent salt. This concentration was reached in 

10 seconds with the Colonial salt, in 13 seconds with the Dia- 
mond Crystal salt, and in 21 seconds with the Worcester salt. 

With a 5.5 per cent salt content in the butter the brine would 
contain 25.58 per cent salt. This concentration was reached in 
25 seconds with the Colonial salt, in 35 seconds with the Dia- 
mond Crystal salt, and in 41 seconds with the Worcester salt. 

Inasmuch as the point of saturation of pure salt is reached 
with brine containing 26.41 per cent salt, salts showing a brine 



1 Hunziker and Hosman. Determination of Solubility of Buttersalts. 
Blue Valley Research Laboratory, 1919. 

In this experiment the samples of the three buttersalts were taken from 
the interior of the barrel, after removing about 30 pounds from the top. 
Three hundred and seventy grams of salt were added to 1,000 c.c. of water 
which was being violently agitated by means of a mechanical stirrer. It 
required from two to three seconds to add the salt. At definite intervals, 
after adding the salt, a sample was removed by means of a pipette, the 
suction end of which was covered with silk cloth. The mesh in this silk was 
from .05 mm. to .10 mm. in cross section and there were from 140 to 160 
meshes per linear inch. All samples of brine were filtered through a double 
layer of this finely woven silk. Samples were removed after 10, 30, 45, 60, 57, 
90, 105, 120, 180, 210 and 300 seconds, respectively. About 20 c.c. of brine was 
taken for each sample. The samples were kept in glass stoppered bottles until 
weighed. The determination of salt was made by weighing into a watch 
crystal about 6 grams of the brine and evaporating at 135° to 140° C. to 
constant weight. The apparatus and speed of agitation used were such as 
to preclude the possibility of any settling of the salt while the samples were 
taken. The amount, nature and speed of the agitation were uniform in each 
test. 



Salting the; Butter 337 

concentration beyond this point suggest the presence of im- 
purities. 

These conclusions are purely arbitrary and relative. As 
stated elsewhere in this volume, the fine division and emulsion 
of the water in butter greatly diminishes the availability of a 
portion of it to the salt. It is not mechanically possible to com- 
pletely dissolve a sufficient amount of salt in butter to reach 
the saturation point of all the water present. If salt is added to 
butter at the ratio of 26.41 parts of salt for every 100 parts 
of water present, and which ratio represents the maximum con- 
centration possible of salt brine, all of this salt will not dissolve 
and the butter is bound to be gritty. 

These figures, however, do show the relative solubility and 
the speed of solution of different buttersalts, and they may serve 
to suggest in a general way the limitations of satisfactory salt 
in corporation. 

The Condition of the Salt as Affected by Storage. — It has 

already been stated under the paragraph on "Bacteriological 
Purity" that the salt should be kept tightly covered in order 
to avoid bacterial contamination which may prove disastrous 
to the quality of the butter. 

The buttermaker should also exercise due care to protect 
the salt against a damp atmosphere, because of the great affinity 
of the salt for moisture from the air, causing it to become 
lumpy and musty. 

It is frequently claimed that, when the salt is stored in 
barrels for an excessively long period of time, the salt is cap- 
able of absorbing a woody odor and flavor from the barrel, 
which may be imparted to the butter. It is doubtful that salt 
packed in sound barrels, kept dry, ever absorbs woody flavor. 
Experts on butter salt testify that this is impossible. How- 
ever, instances are on record where salt stored in barrels made 
of poorly seasoned wood, or wood derived from trees w^hich 
Avere felled while the sap was still running, or from lumber 
which was allowed to soak in stagnant ponds, gave butter a 
pronounced woody and moldy odor. The storing of the salt 
barrels in damp places where the barrel 1)ecomes wet may also 
be responsible for this defect. 



338 Salting the; Butter 

If stored in a very cold place and not given a chance to 
warm Up by being taken into the creamery long enough before 
use, the salt chills the butter with which it comes in immediate 
contact and thereby hinders ready solution and uniform dis- 
tribution of the brine. Where the storage place of the salt 
is very cold, as is often the case in creameries in winter where 
the salt is stored in a shed, the salt needed for the next day 
should be brought into the creamery the previous day, or long 
enough before use, to allow it to temper, in order to avoid 
the undesirable consequences of the use of very cold salt. 

• Effect of Salt on the Keeping Quality of Butter. — The anti- 
septic properties of salt are generally recognized. Salt has 
the power of inhibiting bacteriological growth. It would seem; 
therefore, that salted butter should possess greater keeping 
quality than unsalted butter and that the more salt butter con- 
tains the better it should keep. 

Jensen^ reports that all micro-organisms grow better and 
faster in unsalted butter than in salted butter. The growth 
of the water bacteria is retarted most by the salt. Klein^ says 
that although butter is primarily salted to improve its flavor, 
its keeping quality is also materially improved. Weigman^ 
found that salt has a conserving action, that unsalted butter 
generally contains more microorganisms than salted butter and 
that in unsalted butter the multiplication of bacteria lasts longer 
than in salted butter. His experimental results show that in 
unsalted butter the multiplication lasted 106 days as against 62 
days in salted butter. McKay and Larsen's* experiments show 
that salt improves the keeping quality of butter. Rahn, Brown 
and Smith^ who stored salted and unsalted butter at — 6° C. 
and +6° C. state that there is no hope of keeping unsalted 
butter longer than salted butter. Fettig,'' in experiments in 
which butter was stored at similar temperatures as above, con- 
cluded, that salted butter keeps better, both above and below 
the freezing point, than unsalted butter. 



1 Jensen, Die Bakteriologie der Milchwirtschaft, 1913, p. 124. 

2 Klein, Milchwirtschaft, 1914, p. 218. 

sweigmann, Mykologie der Milch, 1911, p. 210. ^ „ ^. „-, -nno 

* McKay and Larsen, The Keeping Quality of Butter. Iowa Bulletin 71, 1903 
B Rahn, Brown and Smith, Keeping Quality of Butter, Michigan Technical 

« Fetti'g, Centralblatt fiir Bakt. II. Band 22, No. 32, 1909. 



Salting thk Butter 339 

While the results above quoted all point toward improved 
keeping quality of salted butter, both experimental results and 
the experience of the butter manufacturer have demonstrated 
that the beneficial influence of salt on the keeping quality of 
butter, depends to a very considerable extent on a variety of 
factors incident to the making and storing of butter and the 
amount of salt, butter contains. 

Again, all micro-organisms present in butter do not take 
part in the decomposition of the ingredients of the buttermilk 
and therefore do not affect its keeping quality and some spe- 
cies are considered capable to actually prolong the life of but- 
ter. On the other hand, the inhibiting action of salt varies 
greatly with different micro-organisms and with the concen- 
tration of the brine present. In slightly salted butter, i. e., 
butter containing not to exceed about two per cent salt, the 
liquid parts of the butter contain only about thirteen per cent 
salt, which is insufficient to retard the growth 'of most micro- 
organisms. Weigmann found that 2.5 per cent salt in butter, 
or about sixteen per cent in the brine of butter, inhibits the 
growth of some species of germs and that the molds are affected 
by this salt more than the bacteria and yeast. When, however, 
the salt is increased to 4 and 5 per cent, or approximately 21 
to 25 per cent in the brine, the keeping quality is not only not 
improved, but it suffers. In this case the lactic acid bacteria 
which improve the keeping quality are affected unfavorably, 
their growth is inhibited, while other bacteria which give the 
butter undesirable flavors, such as those of the coli and aero- 
genes groups. Bacillus subtilis. Bacillus putrificus and several 
molds, are more resistant to salt. These results are corroborated 
by experiments by Gray and McKay^ who show that in the case 
of butter stored at temperatures varying from — 10° F. to 
-|-32° F., lightly salted butter averaged 2.16 points higher m 
score than heavily salted butter. These investigators therefore 
concluded that butter containing low percentages of salt, keeps 
better than butter containing a high per cent of salt. Fettig 
also found that if the salt concentration is so high as to stop 
the activity of lactic acid bacteria, some of the more resistant 



1 Gray and McKay, Investigations in the Manufacture and Storage of But- 
ter. U. S. B. A. I. Bulletin 84, 1906, p. 17. 



340. 



SaIvTing the Butter 



organisms have a chance to grow and to decompose butter. He 
adds that the coli group of bacteria thrives in butter con- 
taining 6 per cent salt and B. prodigiosus thrives in butter con- 
taining four per cent salt. Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer found 
that unsalted and lightly salted butter had a better flavor and 
kept better in storage at — 6° F. than heavily salted butter, as 
shown in the followins^ table. 



Table 52. — Showing Scores of Butter with Varying Amounts 
of Salt Before and After Storage.^ 



d 


4J 

a 




Scores Before 




Scores After Storage 




15 


5S 

Q) 


> ^ 


Storage 


> 

< 








o 


Credi- 


Mittle- 


Credi- 


Keist 


Mittle- 








« 


cott 


sted 




cott 




sted 




1 


none 


12 


93 


93 


93 


93y2 


93J4 


93J4 


93J4 


2 


2.20 


12 


93 


93 


93 


93 


93 


94 


93y^ 


3 


4.44 


12 


92 


92 


92 


91 


91 


91 


91 


4 


6.66 


12 


ssy2 


88^ 


88^ 


88.14 


88 


87 


87^ 


5 


7.17 


12 


S7y2 


syyi 


87^ 


89 


89 


88^ 


8834 


6 


none 


30 


94^' 


94y2 


94m; 


94 


94 


94 


94 


7 


2.92 


30 


91 


9oy2 


9034 


91 


90^ 


90y2 


902/3 


8 


6.13 


30 


89 


91 


90 


90 


90 


90^ 


90/4 


9 


7.81 


30 


89 


903^ 


893/4 


88 


88 


87 


87^/3 


10 


8.57 


30 


89^ 


89y2 


89^ 


85 


85 


84 


842/3 



The above ten lots of butter were made from the same 
churning. Lots 1 to 5 were worked 12 revolutions, lots 6 to 
10, inclusive, were worked 30 revolutions. 

These findings, then, give evidence of the fact that while 
a small amount of salt may and does retard the action of some un- 
desirable microbes, such as certain molds and yeast, and at the 
same time permit the activity of desirable bacteria, such as the 
lactic acid species and, therefore, has a tendency to improve the 
keeping quality of butter, the opposite effect may be expected 
with heavily salted butter. 

But the effect of salt on the keeping quality of butter, is 
also governed and modified to a very appreciable extent, by the 
temperature at which butter is stored. Bacteria, in order to 
thrive on the food they find in butter, must have that food in 
liquid form. When the serum of butter, containing the curd 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter. Purdue Bulletin 
160. 1912. 



Salting the Butter 341 

and sugar, is frozen, bacteria cease to be able to utilize it and 
their activity stops. When butter is stored at or above the 
freezing point of water the liquid portion in both salted and 
unsalted butter is in solution. In salted butter liquid brine 
has a retarding influence on some of them, while in unsalted 
butter their development is unhindered. It is obvious there- 
fore that at ordinary temperatures the unsalted butter will 
spoil more readily than the salted butter, a fact which is amply 
borne out in the commercial manufacture and handling of 
butter. 

But not so when butter is stored at the cold storage tem- 
perature generally used in this' country, i. e. — 6 to — 10° F. 
At such low temperatures the moisture in unsalted butter is 
frozen solid, a fact which makes further bacterial development 
impossible. In heavily salted butter on the other hand, the 
freezing point of the brine is very near the storage tempera- 
ture. The brine therefore remains in solution for a relatively 
long period of time and the micro-organisms which are capable 
to resist the concentrated brine are able to continue their work. 
That the brine in heavily salted butter remains in solution 
for some time, if it freezes at all after the butter has been placed 
in cold storage, is clearly shown in the paragraph relating to 
"The Effect of Salt on the Moisture Content of Butter." 
Unsalted and lightly salted butter lost practically no moisture 
in cold storage, while heavily salted butter lost from one to 
three and one-half per cent moisture. Similar results are re- 
ported by Washburn.^ These findings are in no way contradic- 
tory to those obtained by the investigators previously quoted 
who reported that salted butter kept better than unsalted but- 
ter, because of the differences in the temperature at which 
their butter was stored. 

The earlier impression among buttermakers and also 
quoted in some of the text books was that salt covers up the 
bad flavors in butter, and it used to be recommended that but- 
ter of inferior quality should be salted heavily in order to hide 
the undesirable flavors. Our latest findings on this point do 
not bear out this assumption. On the contrary, experience has 



1 Washburn. Influence of Salt on Storage Butter, Journal of Dairy Science, 
Vol 1, No. 2. 1917. 



342 Salting Tiir; Buttrr 

shown, that heavy salting rather intensifies than minimizes the 
effect of poor quaHty. Such butter usually takes on a disagree- 
able, coarse flavor particularly objectionable to the consumer. 
In fact the bulk of evidence goes to show that butter made from 
second grade cream is of better flavor and sells to better advan- 
tage when it is not salted at all. For this reason many of the 
most progressive creameries, whose daily make is suflficiently 
large to justify them to churn the different grades of cream 
separately, put their second grade cream into unsalted butter, 
for which they can realize a better price than if they salted it, 
and frequently their second grade unsalted butter brings as 
good a price as their first grade salted butter. 

Leaving out of consideration the preference of the con- 
suming public, one of the most important disadvantages of un- 
salted butter, as related to quality, lies in the fact that unsalted 
butter molds very much more readily than salted butter. Mold 
development usually makes its appearance within less than two 
weeks of manufacture. Since this is the period before the but- 
ter reaches cold storage, and during which the temperature to 
which the butter is exposed, is generally considerably above 
32° P\, mold growth makes rapid progress. In the absence of 
salt there is nothing to inhibit it, and if the unsalted butter 
happens to be made from cream that is high in acid when 
churned, the moldiness is further intensified. Molds flourish 
in an acid medium. Salt brine, on the other hand, retards mold 
growth. Salted butter, therefore, is not so prone to arrive on 
the market in moldy condition. 

Effect of Salt on Possible Germs of Disease That May be 
Found in Butter. — This applies only to butter made from raw 
cream, as it is generally conceded that proper pasteurization 
of the cream eliminates the germs of infectious diseases from 
butter. Data on the eft'ect of salt on the virulence of patho- 
genic bacteria, are not numerous and such data as are available 
are confined to the bacillus of tuberculosis. Schroeder and 
Cotton,^ as the result of experiments with infected butter, 
conclude that living bacilli of tuberculosis will retain their 
infectious properties for at least 160 days in salted butter when 



1 Schroeder and Cotton, The Relation of the Tubercle Bacillus to PuhUc 
Health, U. S. Dept. Agr., B. A. I. Circular 153, p. 38. 



Salting thk Butter 343 

kept without ice in cellar. Mohler, Washburn and Doane^ re- 
port as follows: "No dependence should be placed upon the 
action of the salt that is added to butter as an agent in the 
destruction of Bacillus tuberculosis. Tt has been shown that 
the effect of salt as commonly used in the manufacture of but- 
ter, is very slight at best. Most of the samples used were salted 
with the usual amount. Yet the butter contained its virulence 
for 6 months.'' 

These facts emphasize that the heavy salting of butter, as 
usually practiced on the dairy farm where butter is made, is 
not an adequate substitute for pasteurization and that pasteur- 
ization is indispensible as a guarantee of freedom from disease 
germs. 

Effect of Salt on Moisture Content of Butter. — Before the 
salt is added to butter, butter represents an emulsion of water- 
in-fat, in which the water is present in very small drop- 
lets, of relatively uniform size and even distribution. 

The addition of salt causes this emulsion to be disturbed. 
The salt, owing to its great affinity for water, draws many 
of the water droplets together into larger droplets and drops 
and even larger aggregates. There is a marked decrease in 
the number of small droplets and an increase in the number 
of large droplets. And there is an unmistakable tendency for 
water to run out of the butter, causing a decrease in the per- 
centage of moisture. 

In butter made from cream that was not sufficiently cooled, 
nor held at the low temperature long enough to thoroughly 
chill and harden the fat before churning, the salting invariably 
produces a leaky body. In this case the mechanical condition 
of the fat is such that the formation of the water-in-fat emul- 
sion, resulting during the churning process, is incomplete. While 
it is sufficiently complete to prevent unsalted butter from being 
leaky (unsalted butter never is really leaky) it is not suffi- 
ciently complete to withstand the emulsion-disturbing influ- 
ence of the salt. It yields to the salting-out process and be- 
comes leaky. 

At best the salt tends to decrease the moisture content of 



1 Mohler, Washburn and Doane. Virility of Bacillus Tuberculosis, U. S 
A. I. 26, Annual Report, 1909. 



344 



Salting the Butter 



butter to some extent, and in the case of butter made from 
insufficiently chilled cream this decrease may be very great. 
This does not necessarily mean, however, that the finished prod- 
uct is lov^er in moisture in the case of salted butter than in 
the case of unsalted butter. The expulsion of moisture by the 
salt occurs during the first few revolutions of the workers. As 
the working continues, especially with the churn doors closed, 
brine is reincorporated and the moisture content again in- 
creases. Salted butter, at the conclusion of the working process 
may, therefore, contain as much water as unsalted butter, the 
salt replacing a corresponding portion of the fat and not of the 
water, causing salted butter to be lower in butterfat than un- 
salted butter. This fact is demonstrated in the following 
table :^ 

Table 53. — -Showing Effect of Amount of Salt on Moisture and 

Fat Content of Butter When the Butter is Worked With the 

Churn Gates Closed. 



Lot 


Ounces 

of Salt 

per Lb. 

Fat 


Revolu- 
tions 
Worked 


Chemical Composition of Butter in Per Cent 


No. 


Salt 


Fat 


Moisture 


Curd 


Ash 



April, 1907 (before storage) worked 12 revolutions 



1 


none 


12 


.02 


84.58 


14.05 


.63 


.20 


2 


Vz 


12 


2.20 


83.00 


14.07 


.60 


.19 


3 


VA 


12 


4.44 


81.22 


14.00 


.60 


.19 


4 


2% 


12 


6.66 


77.70 


14.78 


.61 


.18 


5 


3J4 


12 


7.17 


77.31 


14.75 


.60 


.20 


Average 






4.10 


, 80.76 


14.33 


.61 


.19 











When butter is placed i ncold storage the loss of moisture 
in salted butter is very much greater than th^t in unsalted but- 
ter, as shown in experimental data^ in Table 54. 

x\s shown in Table 54, the loss of moisture of but- 
ter in cold storage is greatest in heavily salted butter, while 
it is very slight in lightly salted butter. While unsalted but- 
ter lost no moisture in eight months storage at — 6° F., lightly 
salted butter lost .42 per cent and heavily salted butter as 
high as 3.08 per cent. Similar results were obtained in exper- 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin 
160. 1912, p. 399. 



Salting rnt Butter 



345 



iments conducted by Rahn, Brown and Smith. ^ This loss of 
moisture in storage was formerly attributed to evaporation, 
and such is in fact the case to a limited extent with butter 
stored at ordinary temperature. In commercial cold storage, 
however, moisture does not evaporate to any noticeable extent. 



Table 54. — Showing Loss of Moisture in Butter in Cold Storage. 





Per Cent Moisture 


Per Cent Salt 


Fresh 


Stored 8 Months 
at -6° F. 


Decrease 
of Per Cent Salt 


none 
2.20 
448 
6.66 
7.17 


14.05 

14.07 
14.00 
1478 
1475 


14.20 
13.65 
13.01 
11.70 
11.83 


.42 

.99 

3.08 

2.92 



If here the loss of moisture were due to evaporation, this de- 
crease of moisture would necessarily have to be accompanied 
by a material increase in the per cent of salt. This is not the 
case, as shown in the results of Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer in 
table 55. 

The loss of moisture in butter in storage is apparently 
due to leakage, caused partly by the precipitation and contrac- 
tion of the casein, rendering the buttermilk less viscous and 
giving the butter a more open texture, and partly to the fact 
that in heavily salted butter the brine is so concentrated that its 
freezing point is near that of the cold storage temperature. 
This leaves the moisture in butter in liquid form during a con- 
siderable part of its storage period and gives it an opportunity 
to leak out. In the case of unsalted and lightly salted butter 
the moisture freezes at the usual cold storage temperature, pre- 
venting further leakage. In butter stored at ordinary temperatures 
and not far below the freezing point of water, the leakage of 
moisture in both salted and unsalted butter would be more nearly 
the same. 



* Rahn, Brown and Smith, Keeping Qualities of Butter, Michigan Technical 
Bulletin 2, 1909. 



346 



Working the Butter 



Table 55.— Salt Content in Fresh and Stored Butter. 



Lot 


Ounces of 
Salt Added 
per Pound 


Fresh 


Butter 


After 8 Months 
Cold Storage 


No. 


Per Cent 


Per Cent 


Per Cent 


Per Cent 




of Fat 
none 


Moisture 


Salt 


Moisture 


Salt 


1 


14.05 


.02 


14.20 


.02 


2 


Vi 


. 14.07 


2.20 


13.65 


2.01 


3 


1% 


14.00 


4.44 


13.01 


4.48 


4 


2^ 


14.78 


6.66 


11.70 


-5.57 


5 


354 


14.75 


7.17 


11.83 


7.07 


Average per ce 


nt salt 




4.10 




3.83 



WORKING THE BUTTER 

Purpose. — The fundamental purpose of working- the butter 
is to completely dissolve, uniformly distribute and properly in- 
corporate the salt, to accomplish as complete as possible a 
fusion between brine and water in butter, and to bring the 
granules of butter together into a compact mass for convenient 
handling and packing. Incidentally the working process fur- 
ther serves to expel buttermilk and to control the moisture 
content of butter. The working is an important part of butter 
manufacture, it is a science which requires knowledge, and it 
is above all an art that demands experience and judgment on 
the part of the operator, if uniformly satisfactory results are 
to be obtained. 

Butter Workers. — There is a great variety of butter 
workers on the market, in principle they are conveniently di' 
vided into two classes, namely those which are independent 
of the churn, and in the use of which the butter is taken out of 
the churn, and those which are a part of the churn, known as 
the combined churns and workers. 

To the first group belong all the handworkers such as are 
generally used in farm buttermaking and the mechanical table 
workers which were formerly used in American creameries and 
are still used to a considerable extent in European creameries. 
These independent butter workers consist of a bowl, tray or 
table on which the butter is placed and where it is worked 
with ladles, or with a lever, or by one or more revolving cor- 



1 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter. Purdue Bulletin 
160, 1912. 



Working the Butter 347 

rugated rollers. In the case of the large table workers, both 
the table and rollers revolve. When only small quantities of 
butter are handled, these workers may serve the purpose fairly 
well, but at best they are a very crude apparatus, their opera- 
tion requires much labor, is time consuming, lacks uniformity 
of results as to distribution of salt and moisture, makes the 
control of temperature of the butter impossible, renders the 
protection of the butter from flies in summer and diverse im- 
purities difficult, and exposes the butter excessively to light. 
Even for the farm dairy the combined churn and worker is 
greatly preferable and such workers are now available, adapted 
for use in dairies with a small make. 




Fig". 55. Hand butter worker 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 

For creamery use, the independent worker is practically 
out of the question and the combined churn and worker is the 
only really satisfactory equipment. The combined churn and 
workers are of two types. In one type the butterworkers, con- 
sisting of one, two or four rollers, according to the make of 
the churn, are permanently installed in the churn, running 
lengthwise, either near the periphery of the churn barrel or 
through the center of the churn. The workers revolve on steel 
shafts with bearings in each end of. the churn, and with the 
gear attachment at one end on the outside of the churn. To 
this type of combined churns and workers belong the Disbrow, 
Dual, Perfection, Victor, A\'izard, etc. In the other type of com- 
bined churns and workers one end of the churn is open and 
the butter workers are on a separate truck outside of the churn. 
When ready for working, the truck is moved up to the open 
end of the churn, the workers are pushed into the churn, and 
the driving gear located outside of the churn is slipped in place. 
The Simplex churn is a representative of this type of churn. 



348 



Working the Butte;r 



Oil the interior of the combined churns and workers one 
or more shelves are fastened to the sides of the churn; as the 
churn revolves these shelves carry the butter and some of the 
w^ater up and drop them over the workers. 

In churns containing one worker only, as is the case with 
the Perfection churn, the roller works against a shelf, the 
butter being worked while passing between the roller and shelf. 





One-roll workers perfection 
churn 



Tig. 56 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co 



Figr. 57. Two-roll workers' Disbrow 

chum 

Courtesy Davis-Watklns Dairymen's 

Mfg. Co. 



In churns containing one or more sets of two rollers each, 
roller works against roller, the butter being worked while pass- 
ing between the rollers. To churns of this arrangement belong 
the Disbrow, Dual, Simplex, Victor (4 rollers) and Wizard. 
The Dual churn is equipped with an idler, a small, loose roller 
on each side of the main workers. These idler rollers assist 
in guiding the butter towards the workers and prevent it from 
dropping down outside of the workers. In some churns (Dis- 
brow and Victor) the workers travel with the drum of the churn, 
while in other churns (Dual, Perfection, Simplex and Wizard) 
the worker or workers are stationary and revolve only on their 
own axis. In all churns excepting the Wizard, the churn revolves 
while the workers are rotating. In the Wizard the churn makes 
one turn, dropping the butter on the workers, then it auto- 
matically stops and the workers start rotating. When the but- 
ter has gone through the workers, the churn again revolves and 
the operation is repeated. 



Working the Butter 



349 



In order for the churn workers and shelves to perform 
their work properly, to work all the butter alike, to distribute 
the moisture and salt evenly and produce uniformity of color 
in the butter, they must be correctly set, must be taut and free 
from excessive slack. The distance between workers and be- 
tween worker and shelf must be the same over their entire 





Fig-. 58. Two-roU workers with 
idlers, Dual churn 
Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 



Tig. 59. Pour-roll workers Victor 
churn 



length, the workers must be so set that, when in operation, 
the ridges of one worker meet the grooves of the opposite 
worker, and there must be sufficient freedom from slack or 
looseness to insure permanency of this correct position of the 
workers while in operation. Improperly set, maladjusted, loose 
and slipping workers cause uneven working and this in turn 
almost invariably causes mottles. 

Looseness or slipping of the workers is always due to a 
faulty mechanical condition of the churn. It is caused either 
by the rollershaft having worked loose in the end of the 
worker, or by the rollershaft slipping in the gear wheel due 
to a worn key, or to an excessively worn condition of the cogs 
in the gear wheels. It is a part of the buttermaker's duty to 
see to it that the churn and workers are constantly kept in 
proper mechanical repair. 

Overloading the Churn. — The author's observation among 
creameries has been that it is one of the common tendencies 
of the buttermaker to overload the churn. Similar experience 
is related by Professor F. W. Bouska,^ butter expert for the 
American Association of Creamery Butter Manufacturers. The 



i !Pouska, Elgin Dairy Report, 1914, 



350 Working the; Butter 

amount of butter which any given churn will properly work, 
is dependent on a variety of factors: 

Churns in which the butter is brought up on the workers 
in several installments (Simplex) with each revolution of the 
churn, can take care of more butter, without overloading the 
workers, than churns in which the butter is deposited on the 
workers in one mass. Workers that are deeply corrugated and 
are placed a considerable distance apart, will work more butter 
than workers with shallow corrugations and which are set 
close together. In the case of too great a space between 
workers, however, it is difificult to work small churnings satis- 
factorily. High-speed workers will handle more butter than 
low-speed workers. Too low a speed of the workers makes 
moisture control difficult and tends toward leaky butter. In the 
case of hard butter, a slow speed causes excessive expulsion of 
water. Excessive speed of the workers causes rapid incorpora- 
tion of moisture and makes expulsion of water more difficult. 
Wide workers can take care of more butter than narrow workers, 
in the latter case the butter is prone to fall over the workers and 
to miss being worked. Soft butter increases, while hard butter 
decreases, the capacity of the workers. 

Overloading the churn often causes the butter to be 
crowded toward the ends of the churn. More butter being 
loaded on the workers than they are able to work through, 
causes the butter to pile up ; it presses against the ends of the 
churn. The uneven surface of the ends, magnified by the 
projecting bolt heads and the sunk-in spy glasses, makes part 
of the butter stick to the ends and to be carried around by 
the revolving drum without going through the workers, all 
the butter does not get the same amount of working, there is 
uneveness of moisture, salt and brine distribution, and the 
butter usually becomes mottled. 

In order to avoid the objectionable consequences of this con- 
dition, the buttermaker may stop the churn and turn the but- 
ter which piled up at the ends toward the center. This prac- 
tice minimizes the resulting defects, but it is laborious, time- 
consuming and fails to remove the cause of the trouble. 

The tendency of the butter to crowd toward the ends 9f 



Working thk Buttkr 351 

the churn is not always due to there being- more butter in the 
churn than its rated capacity under normal conditions can 
properly take care of. Frequently it is caused by the fact that, 
when renewing the workers, a larger diameter worker is fur- 
nished and installed. Since the distance between the centers 
of the worker shafts remains the same, regardless of size of 
worker, the installation of the larger diameter workers leaves 
less space between workers, so that the butter of a churning 
of normal size cannot all go through the workers and the efifect 
is obviously the same as if the churn with workers of proper 
size had been overloaded. When replacing old churn rollers 
by new ones, great care should, therefore, be taken that the 
new workers are of the proper size. 

Of late years manufacturers of churns that contain more 
than one worker, have endeavored to overcome the tendency 
of the butter to crowd toward the ends, by installing" at the 
top and bottom in the center of the churn, a so-called "center- 
board." The centerboard is a heavy cypress board, about 24 
to 36 inches long, running lengthwise, with one edge lying 
against the churn drum and the other edge pointing radially 
toward the center. This board is braced on its sides by heavy 
wooden braces. 

The evident purpose of these centerboards is to give the 
butter more contact and therefore more stability to stay in the 
center (between churn ends) and thereby offset the adhesion 
at the ends which otherwise pulls the butter away from the 
center. The center board also helps to hold the butter over 
the workers and to prevent it from dropping- over the outside 
of the workers without being worked. Practical experience 
shows that the centerboards do effectively help to prevent the 
crowding of the butter toward the ends. But, if the churn is 
really overloaded, so that the butter cannot all pass through 
the workers, a portion of it is bound to escape the workers and 
if it cannot crowd toward the ends it must inevitably fall off 
the workers over their whole length. 

One of the most fundamental causes of the tendency in 
American creameries to overload the workers, lies in the fact 
that the listed working capacity of the majority of combined 
churns and workers on the market and in use is greatly over- 



352 Working thk Butter 

rated. The working- capacity of these churns is far below their 
churning- capacity. The reason for this absence of proper pro- 
portion between churning and working capacity is obvious. 
Most of these churns were designed some twenty to thirty years 
ago and the design, from the standpoint of working capacity, is 
the same now as it was then. But in those early and formative 
days of the creamery industry the creameries received and 
churned a much thinner cream than they do now. Twenty or 
more years ago the cream separated on the farm averaged around 
20 to 25 per cent fat. During the last score of years the cream- 
eries, the dairy schools and the dairy press, all have pointed out 
to the farmer the advantages of separating- a richer cream and 
urged him relentlessly to produce and ship cream with a high 
per cent of fat. This campaign for richer cream, together with 
the abandonment of gravity creaming and the universal adop- 
tion of the farm cream separator, had their desired effect. Today 
many creameries receive cream testing as high as 50 per cent 
fat and the average cream when churned probably contains not 
less than 33 per cent fat. 

It is obvious that combined churns and workers, designed 
for a working capacity of 20 to 25 per cent cream, have their 
workers overloaded when operated to the limit of their rated 
churning capacity, with cream that tests 33 per cent fat. 

The overloading- of the workers, whatever its cause may 
be, is bound to result in incomplete and uneven working, lack 
of uniformity of salt and moisture, inadequate fusion of brine 
and water and consequent streakiness and mottles. 

Manner and Amount of Working. — After the wash water is 
drained from the churn, the churn is given one revolution to 
bring the butter on top, in front of the churn doors. A deep 
trench is then dug in the butter, running the entire length of 
the churn. The salt is placed into this trench, care being taken 
that the salt is distributed uniformly in all parts of the trench, 
otherwise there is prone to be a variation in color in butter 
from different parts of the churn. After salting, the trench is 
closed and the worker started. Some butter makers prefer to 
work the butter a few revolutions (3 to 6) before salting, either 
in the presence or absence of extraneous water, claiming that 



WORKINr. THK BuTTRR 353 

they can more readily control the moisture. Each individual 
butter maker has his own method which he believes to operate 
most satisfactorily. The amount of draining which the butter 
receives before salting, the method of salting and the draining 
incident to the working process, largely regulate the per cent 
of moisture which the finished product of one and the same 
churning will contain. The extent of draining and working that 
will yield the desired result as to per cent of moisture and body 
of butter, must be governed by type of churn and by the me- 
chanical character of the butter in the churn. 

Inasmuch as the mechanical character of the butter must 
determine how much working any given churning in any given 
churn requires and can stand, and since the mechanical character 
of the butter varies with many conditions, (such as locality, 
season of year, richness, acidity and temperature of cream, size 
of butter granules, fullness of churn, etc.) it is impossible to 
prescribe any set method that would prove satisfactory under 
all conditions. 

The working should be continued until the butter has a com- 
pact, tough and waxy body, consistent with the desired moisture 
content. Butter has been worked enough when it breaks with a 
ragged edge upon passing a laddie through it quickly. Butter 
not worked sufficiently usually has a loose body, with the grain 
not packed together properly. Such butter is often leaky and 
lacks compactness. Butter overworked shows a tallowy or salvy 
texture in the case of very firm butter and a greasy texture in 
the case of very soft butter. See also "Moisture Control." 

Effect of Working on Body and Color of Butter. — -Properly 
worked butter has a tough, waxy body, is free from leakiness, 
greasiness and tallowiness and has a live, bright color, which is 
uniform throughout the package. When a plug of such butter 
is pulled out of the tub and is broken, the break presents an 
uneven surface similar to that of a piece of iron, showing that 
the grain is still intact. 

Working has the effect of whitening the color of the salted 
butter. This is due to the reduction of the size of the water 
droplets in butter during progressive working. In unsalted but- 
ter the water droplets are present in the form of innumerable 



354 



Working thk Butter 



Size of Water Droplets in Unsalted Butter During Working 

Process 

Magnified 740 times 




Fig-. 60. "Worked Six revolutions, 
no mottles 



Tig. 61. Worked 12 revolutions, 
no mottles 




Tig. 62. Worked 18 revolutions, 
no mottles 



Pig-. 63. Worked 26 revolutions, 
no mottles 




Pig'. 64. Worked 34 revolutions, 
no mottles 



Pig-. 65. Worked 66 revolutions, 
no mottles 



Working the Butter 



355 



Size of Water Droplets in Salted Butter During Working Process 

Masrnified 740 times 




Worked 34 revolutions, 
no mottles 



Tig. 71. 



Worked 66 revolutions, 
no mottles 



356 Working the; Butter 

and exceedingly small units which give the butter an opaque 
whitish color. These droplets remain in this condition during 
the process of working. Working therefore has no noticeable 
effect on the color of unsalted butter. 

But not so in the case of salted butter. When butter is 
salted many of these small water droplets run together, forming 
fewer but larger units or drops. This causes the opaque whitish 
appearance to vanish and to be replaced by a clear, more trans- 
lucent and more deeply yellow color, approaching more nearly 
the natural color of pure butterfat. As the working process 
proceeds these large droplets are gradually divided again into 
smaller droplets and as this division and increase of number of 
small water droplets progresses, the color of the butter begins to 
lose some of its clear, translucent, bright yellowness. By continu- 
ing the working process to the point where the water droplets are 
reduced to their original very small size which they presented 
before salting, the color of the butter can be returned to the 
opaque whiteness of the unsalted butter. This can only be 
done, however, by greatly overworking the butter. 

The above phenomenon also explains why different portions 
of butter from one and the same churning show different shades 
of yellow, when all the butter in the churn does not receive an 
equal amount of working, as may be the case when the workers 
slip or are overloaded. 

Insufficiently worked butter has a loose, open and often a 
leaky body. A plug of such butter drawn from the tub or cube 
usually shows lack of compactness and sometimes marked 
crumbliness. In the case of salted butter, such butter is often 
gritty, due to the presence of undissolved salt and it usually is 
streaked or mottled in color, due to the incomplete fusion of 
brine and water and the consequent uneven size and distribution 
of the water and brine droplets. While stilly in the churn, such , 
butter generally has a loose body, being profusely perforated with 
water pockets which are plainly visible when the butter is cut 
with the ladle. Unsalted butter, while it may be crumbly and : 
may lack the plasticity of properly worked butter, is compact 
and free from excessive leakiness, even when very insufficiently 
worked, and such butter does not become streaky nor mottled 



Working thf; Butter 357 

in color, because the water droplets which it contains are very 
minute and there is a permanent absence of large droplets. 

Overworked butter usually has a poor body and defective 
grain, severely criticized on the market. Overworking injures 
the grain of the butter. If butter is overworked while soft, the 
body is prone to be greasy; if overworked when hard it tends 
to be salvy in texture. A plug of such butter pulled from the 
tub breaks with a smooth surface, similar as if it were cut with 
a knife and showing that the grain has lost its identity. Over- 
worked butter also has a dull, lifeless color, similar to oleomar- 
garine and which is not attractive to the buyer. Such butter 
seldom stands up well on the market under unfavorable tem- 
perature conditions and its flavor and keeping quality may be 
impaired. Frequently butter of this description contains exces- 
sive moisture. Butter with a firm body will stand much more 
working without injury to its body than butter that is soft. 

Effect of Working on Moisture Control of Butter under 
diverse Conditions. — The working is an iinportant part of the 
process of buttermaking as a means to regulate the moisture 
content of butter. In fact, the expulsion or retainance of mois- 
ture larg-ely depends on the method employed for working. 

The smaller the granules when the churn is stopped, the 
larger the amount of moisture they hold. Churning butter to 
large granules or lumps tends to expel moisture, unless such 
overchurning is due to very soft butter, in which case the butter 
may hold abnormall}"- much moisture. If the churning process 
is stopped at the proper time, that is when the butter has gath- 
ered in the form of granules of the size of small corn kernels, 
butter contains more than sixteen per cent moisture immedi- 
ately after the buttermilk has been drawn ofif, and immediately 
after washing it still contains an excess of moisture. The sub- 
sequent salting and working removes this excess moisture. If 
the butter granules are round, smooth and firm as is usually the 
case in fall, winter and early spring, and especially in the case 
of thin cream, the excess of moisture escapes very rapidly and 
there is a strong tendency toward too great escape of moisture, a 
low moisture in the finished butter and a correspondingly low 
overrun. The excessive expulsion of moisture canbe minimized by 



358 



Working the Butter 



draining less thoroughly and working with the churn gates 
closed, and it can be entirely prevented by working the butter 
in the presence of a small amount of water. The water so used 
should be of practically the same temperature as the butter. 



Table 56. — Showing Amount of Moisture in Butter After Draw- 

ing-off Buttermilk, After Washing and in Finished Butter 

When Butter Granules Are of the Size of Wheat Kernels.^ 



No. 


Size of 
Granules 


Per Cent Moisture 


of 


After Drawing 


After Drawing 


Finished 


Churning 


Inches 


Buttermilk 


Washwater 


Butter 


1 


% 


23.64 


19.87 


15.48 


2 


/8 


30.66 


26.66 


13.12 


3 


Ks 


21.77 


19.20 


14.45 


4 


% 


25.00 


19.66 


14.59 


5 


% 


19.83 


19.07 


13.84 


6 


% 


21.28 


19.57 


13.86 


7 


Vs 


24.04 


18.58 


14.15 


8 


% 


22.55 


18.63 


14.78 


9 


Vs 


22.3^ 


17.65 


15.00 


10 


% 


21.70 


16.94 


15.80 


Averages . . . 


Vs 


23.28 


19.58 


14.51 



When the butter granules are very hard, so that consider- 
able working may be necessary in order to bring the moisture 
content up to the maximum allowed by law (less than sixteen 
per cent), there is always more or less danger of injury to the 
grain of butter. 

If the butter granules are soft, flaky, irregular and have a 
ragged surface, as is usually the case in late spring and early 
summer, when most of the cows have freshened and have access 
to abundance of succulent pasture, which conditions yield fat 
globules of large average size, and btitterfat with a relatively 
low melting point, the excess moisture does not escape so rea- 
dily, and there is danger of excessive moisture in the finished 
butter. This is due to the fact that cream with predominatingly 
large fat globules and butterfat with a low melting point, pro- 
duce a soft butter. This soft Imtter is more miscible with water 



^ Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin 
160, 1912. 



Working thi- Butter 359 

than hard butter and when the churn is stopped, the moisture 
is incorporated in the butter granules in the form of very fine 
drops which are expelled wath difficulty. Whenever the butter 
maker has difficulty to keep the moisture down, the butter should 
be drained very thoroughly before w^orking and should be worked 
with the churn doors ajar. It is then advisable to work the but- 
ter four to five revolutions before the salt is added and to drain 
again. During the working the churn should be stopped after 
every two to three revolutions, allowing it to swing freely, with 
the churn doors ajar and down, permitting the free moisture 
to escape readily. In cases of extreme difficulty of keeping the 
moisture within the limits of the law, it may be necessary to 
delay the working after the salt has been added, for a consider- 
able time. This gives the salt an opportunity to assist in the 
expulsion of moisture. Owing to its great affinity for water 
it drawls the minute drops of w^ater out of the butter and gathers 
them in larger drops which, upon subsequent working, are more 
easily expelled. 

It occasionally happens that, owing to the extreme natural 
softness of the butterfat, or to faulty handling of the cream 
before churning, or to too high a churning temperature, no 
amount of working will reduce the moisture content to or below 
the maximum legal limit. In such butter the moisture has 
formed so intimate a mixture with the fat, and moisture .incor- 
poration is so* complete, that additional w^orking, even to the 
extent of injuring the grain of the butter, fails to expel w^ater. 
The only practical way to bring the moisture content of such 
butter within the limits of the law, is to set the butter in the cold 
room and allow it to harden over night. The next day it is 
then cut up into small pieces and worked again with the churn 
doors ajar and in a similar manner as above described. Unless 
its moisture content is very greatly in excess and the incor- 
porated moisture is present in the form of abnormally fine drops, 
this second working will remove sufficient moisture to meet the 
requirements of the law. If it still contains over sixteen per cent 
moisture, more moisture may be expelled by putting the butter 
back into the cold room and working it again the next day. The 
hardening of the butter in the cold changes its mechanical make- 
up and makes it more granular. Some of the minute water par- 



360 Working the Butter 

tides gather into large drops which can be expelled when the 
butter is worked again. It is obvious that this repeated work- 
ing does not improve the body of the butter and should be 
avoided as much as possible. 

The buttermaker should bear in mind that when the but- 
ter has been washed, it contains excessive moisture, part of 
which must be expelled, and that moisture control is not so 
much a matter of incorporating additional moisture into but- 
ter, as it is a matter of properly regulating the expulsion of 
moisture. The control of the expulsion of moisture can be 
greatly facilitated by proper handling of the cream as to churn- 
ing temperature, according to the character of the butterfat and 
this in turn is a problem which requires constant observation 
and intelligent adjustment of the process in accordance with pre- 
vailing conditions. See also "Moisture Control." 

Effect of Working on the Flavor and Keeping Quality of 
Butter. — Generally speaking, the less the butter is worked and 
the more nearly the grain of the butter is preserved, the better 
will be the flavor and keeping quality of the finished product. 
There is an unmistakable tendency in American creameries to 
work their butter too much and thereby to impair its body, and 
possibly its flavor and keeping quality. This tendency is chiefly 
the result of one or both of the following two practices : 

In order to hasten the process of manufacture the butter is 
worked immediately after the salt has been added. The salt is 
given no time to dissolve before working. This requires con- 
siderable working, especially when the usually large amount of 
salt is incorporated, in order to insure complete solution of the 
salt and to avoid grittiness and in order to distribute the salt 
evenly and to fuse the water and brine completely so as to avoid 
waviness and mottles. For this reason some of the very badly 
mottled butter has an exceptionally good flavor. This is not due 
to the presence of the mottles, but it is the result of the same 
condition which tends to bring about the mottles, usually under- 
working, or the absence of overworking. In some European 
creameries where a special effort is made to produce quality, the 
butter is not worked for several hours after the salt has been 
added. The salt thus has an opportunity to largely go in solution 



Working thd Butte;r 361 

before working- and but little working is needed to complete the 
solution and distribution of the salt. The same reason, why under- 
worked butter is of better quality than much-worked butter, 
also accounts in part for the fact that unsalted butter is often 
of better quality and keeps better than salted butter. Such 
butter does not require working in order to insure solution of 
the salt and to avoid mottles. It therefore is often not worked 
as much as salted butter and has a better body and better grain. 
The second reason for the tendency of overworking butter 
is the common practice of trying to incorporate the maximum 
amount of moisture which the law permits. In late spring and 
early summer, when the butter is relatively soft and naturally 
takes up water readily, there usually is no need of excessive 
working in order to incorporate moisture, and if the buttermaker 
understands his business, he need not overwork the butter to 
the extent of injuring its body or flavor. But not so when the 
butter comes firm and tends to be low in moisture as is the case 
in fall, winter and early spring. Under these conditions the 
butter often requires a comparatively large amount of working 
in order to contain the maximum amount of moisture allowed 
by law. This is true especially in the states where much cot- 
tonseed meal and similar fodder producing hard and crumbly but- 
ter, are fed. Butter made from such cream, when worked in 
the usual way, and just enough to insure proper compactness, 
usually does not contain much over 13.5 per cent moisture and 
the additional moisture can only be incorporated by additional 
working and this is often done at the expense of body, flavor 
and keeping quality. From the point of view of the quality 
of American butter this additional working or overworking is 
objectionable and it is a debatable question if, in the long run. 
the loss in price and prestige due to sacrifice in quality, is not 
greater than the increased returns due to larger overrun. If 
in winter, when butter naturally comes in. the form of smooth, 
round and firm granules, the creamery insists on incorporating 
the maximum amount of moisture permitted by law, it would 
seem preferable to churn at a sufficiently higher temperature 
to make the butter come somewhat less firm, thereby increasing 
its ability to naturally hold moisture and making unnecessary 
excessive working. In this case great care should be exercised 



362 Working the; Butter 

to chill the cream sufficiently long so as to guard against a 
slushy and leaky body of the butter. 

The exact channels through which overworking of butter 
deteriorates its flavor and tends to cause such off-flavors as 
oily, metallic and fishy flavors, are not as yet well understood. 
Rogers^ shows experimentally that overworking increases the 
amount of air present in butter and that the presence of air, in 
combination v/ith other influences, enhances oxidation of the 
non-fatty constituents of butter. He further states that the 
development of a fishy flavor is hastened and made more cer- 
tain by overworking, v/hich increases the air and the oxidizing 
surface and that fishy flavor may be produced with reasonable 
certainty by overworking the butter made from sour cream. 

Rogers' conclusions on this point have not been fully borne 
out by the work of Hunziker. While overworking certainly 
does not improve the quality of butter, it fails to produce the 
distinct defects indicated by Rogers with any degree of regu- 
larity. Nor does it necessarily increase the air content of but- 
ter. The incorporation of air in butter begins as soon as the 
cream is subjected to agitation in the churn and up to a certain 
point it increases, greatly retarding the completion of the 
churning process. In fact the amount of air incorporated in 
the interior and on the surface of the still microscopic butter 
granules is so great, that it is difficult to make satisfactory micro- 
scopic examinations of these granules. After the granules have 
reached a sufficient size to "break" the fat-in-skimmilk emulsion 
and to establish a buttermilk-in-fat emulsion Avhich is butter, 
much of this air is released and the completion of the churn- 
ing process is facilitated. And from this point on, any further 
churning and subsequent working appears to efifect an expulsion 
of a portion of the air locked up in the butter, rather than an 
incorporation of additional air. 

There is a vast difference between the overworking of but- 
ter that results from manipulating it with a spatula in small 
amounts as described by Rogers, and by working it in the com- 
bined churn and worker. While it is quite conceivable how, by 
special effort, air may be beaten into soft butter with a spatula, 
it is much less obvious that the squeezing Avhich the butter 



1 Rogers, Fishy Flavor in Butter, U. S. Dept. Agr., B.A.I. Circular 146, 1909. 



Working the Butter 363 

receives in the commercial combined churn and worker incor- 
porates air and the probability of actual air expulsion in this 
case is by no means remote. 

However, it is unquestionably a fact, that any air perma- 
nently present in the butter, becomes very finely divided and 
emulsified by overworking and in this form a much larger area 
of the butter becomes exposed to this air, so that, even without 
the actual incorporation of additional air, the injurious effect 
of the air present is greatly magnified. 

The fact that overworking gives the butter a whiter color 
is not necessarily due to the incorporation of additional air as 
Rogers concluded, but it is invariably caused by the reduction 
of the size of the water droplets as shown by Hunziker and 
Hosman. Unsalted butter is always whiter than salted butter, 
both, before working and during any part of the working proc- 
ess. Microscopic examinations of butter during all stages of 
the working process, by Hunziker and Hosman, conclusively 
show, that in unsalted butter the water droplets are exceedingly 
minute while in salted butter they are relatively large, espe- 
cially during the early stages of the working process. And, 
again, the whitening effect due to working takes place even when 
the butter is submerged in water during the working process, 
eliminating any possibility of Incorporation of additional air. 

It is also not improbable, though not experimentally proven, 
that the destruction of the grain of the butter, as is the case in 
overworking, tends to lessen the resistance of the fat to such 
oxidizing agencies as air, metallic salts, etc. and therefore hastens 
its deterioration. 

When the butter has been worked enough, the workers are 
stopped and the churn is given another revolution or two in 
order to deposit the butter on top of the workers from where 
it can be easily removed and transferred to the tubs or cubes, 
or other receptacles. 

Before removing the butter from the churn it should be 
accurately tested for moisture content, so that if the moisture is 
excessive, or deficient, it may be corrected by further working. 
For directions on controlling moisture see also chapter on Com- 
position of Butter — Moisture Control — Chapter XVHL, and for 
directions on moisture tests see Chapter XXH. 



364 Packing Butti^r 

Chapter XII. 

PACKING BUTTER. 

Variety of Packages. — -Butter is packed and placed upon the 
market in a great variety of receptacles and forms, varying wide- 
ly in shape, style and material, such as tubs, boxes, cubes, fir- 
kins, tin cans, crocks, pails, prints, rolls and individual molds, 
and varying in weight from one-fourth pound bars up to 110 
pound firkins. The standard Danish firkin weighs 50 kilograms, 
or 110.23 pounds net. The great bulk of the American butter 
that is put up for the wholesale produce trade in the large mar- 
kets is packed in tubs, boxes and cubes, while the local trade and 
retail stores prefer much of their butter in the finished package, 
the print. Export butter is put up in tubs and cubes, and butter 
intended for the tropics and much of the butter furnished the 
United States Navy, is packed in hermetically sealed tin cans. 
Farm butter is packed in crocks, small fibre boxes, small tubs 
and pails, rolls, special molds and prints. In many foreign 
countries the firkin is the predominating package, though much 
foreign butter is also packed in boxes and prints. 

Tubs. — Butter tubs are usually constructed of spruce or 
white ash. They range in size from ten pounds to 63 pounds 
net. While no particular size has been adopted officially as 
the standard size tub, the 60 to 63 pound tub is by far the most 
popular and is used for the great bulk of American tub butter. 

The war situation threatened a shortage of white ash and 
especially of spruce. For a time the creameries had difficulty 
in locating and contracting for a sufficient supply of tubs and 
prices soared to an unprecedented level. A campaign was start- 
ed to invite and urge the creamerymen to break away from the 
butter tub and use boxes or cubes instead. The effort failed and 
the tub prevailed in spite of all handicaps. The reason for this 
persistence and tenacity with which creameries stick to the tub 
is not limited by mere custom and usage. There is no question 
that, all things considered, the 60 to 63 pound tub is the most 
satisfactory form of package in which to handle butter in bulk. 
The mechanical handling at the creamery, in transit, at the 
market end and in cold storage is by far easier and more prac- 



Packing Butter 365 

tical than any other package of butter of equal capacity. W ith 
the possible exception of the firkin, which is not used in this 
country, and of the tin can which is too expensive a package for 
domestic use, the butter tub withstands better the abuse and 
rough handling it is necessarily subjected to in its journey from 
the creamery to the market, and arrives at its destination in 
better condition than other butter receptacles. Unlike cubes 
and boxes it has no nailed sides, ends, bottoms and tops to tear 
loose, the butter in it does not become soiled, because the tub 
is tight and dust-proof, which is often not the case with the 
boxes used for bulk butter. 

The tub strips easily and quickly, the package does not have 
to be destroyed in order to get the butter out. Its disadvan- 
tages are that it does not pack quite as closely as square boxes, 
requiring somewhat more space in transit and in storage, and 
that tubbed butter does not cut as satisfactorily for putting up 
prints as does cube butter. 

Smaller size tubs are used upon special request, to fill spe- 
cial orders and for special occasions, such as for scoring contest 
butter, etc. Butter tubs are lined with parchment liners and 
circles which protect the butter from woody odor, impurities, 
and contamination with mold and prevent it from sticking to 
the wood, so that the butter slips out of the inverted tub readily 
when "stripped." 

Butter tubs should be constructed of the best quality of 
sound wood, and they should be stored in a dry, clean place in 
the creamery. They should be well put together, tight, and 
free from cracked staves. Tubs made from lumber that was 
felled while the sap was still running, or that has been lying- 
in stagnant ponds, tend to give rise to woody odor and molds 
in butter. Their wood is prone to give butter an objectionable 
woody flavor. Often it is partly decayed and porous, in which 
condition it may harbor mold spores which contaminate the 
butter. Exposure of the tubs to dampness and to unclean sur- 
roundings in the creamery is an additional source of moldy but- 
ter. When stored in a damp room the tubs frequently become 
spotted inside and out with mold growth. The liners also may 
become the source of moldy butter, unless made of a good 



366 Packing Buttkr 

quality of parchment, kept in a clean, dry place and properly 
treated before use.- 

Preparation of Tubs and Liners. — All butter tubs should 
be properly treated before being packed, in order to remove 
the woody odor which is prone to be absorbed by the butter, 
to free them from mold spores with which they are always 
more or less contaminated, to make them airtight to hinder the 
growth of molds after packing, and to i)revent excessive loss 
of weight due to leakage of brine. Moldy butter in the great 
majority of cases is the direct result of lack of attention to 
the proper treatment of tubs and liners. 

Since salt has properties antagonistic to the growth of 
molds, the soaking of the tubs in a saturated solution of hot 
salt brine is a very common and fairly effective method of 
treatment. This is best done by immersing the tubs in a long 
vat containing the hot brine. The tubs should be nested so as to 
retain their shape, otherwise they are prone to warp out of 
shape. The tubs should be set to soak on the day before they 
are needed. If they are not clean or show signs of mold spots, 
they should be thoroughly scrubbed with a brush and hot water 
containing some alkali, before soaking. Steaming for 5 to 10 
minutes is an additional safeguard against mold. The addition 
to the water or brine in which the tubs are soaked, of formalde- 
hyde, sodium hypochlorite, boric acid and other disinfectants 
has also been recommended to guard against mold. 

Formaldehyde lends the butter an objectionable flavor and 
odor, if used in other than exceedingly dilute solutions. A safe 
proportion that still is antagonistic to mold growth is a dilu- 
tion of 1 part of formaldehyde in 400 parts of water, or about 
^ ounce formaldehyde in one gallon of water. 

Hypochlorite of soda also should be used with caution, be- 
cause of its tendency to bleach butter. It may be used at the 
rate of two tablespoons hypochlorite in four gallons of water. 

Boric acid has no known injurious effect on butter. It is 
best used in the form of a .5 per cent solution or about 2/3 
ounce in one gallon of water. 

It should be clearly understood that all these disinfectants 
and antiseptics are injurious to health when consumed with 



Packing Butte;r 367 

food, and their presence in butter is in violation of the Federal 
Pure Pood Act of 1906. Their use for treatment of tubs and liners 
may be justifiable as a means to stamp out an epidemic of mold 
in butter, but their continued use cannot be recommended and 
in any event the tubs after treatment should be rinsed with 
clean water or distilled water before packing. 

Within the past decade the practice of brine-soaking the 
tubs has been superseded in a great many creameries by the 
more efficient treatment of paraffining them. The tubs should 
be paraffined whenever facilities permit. Proper paraffining obvi- 
ates the temptation of using antiseptics as far as the tub as 
a source of mold in butter is concerned. 

When butter is packed in paraffined tubs, it is unnecessary 
to soak the tubs in water or brine, in fact it is preferable not to, 
because the unsoaked tubs present a much more attractive ap- 
pearance. The old practice of soaking butter tubs in water 
prior to packing had for its purpose to load the wood with suf- 
ficient water to minimize the absorption by the tub of moisture 
contained in the butter, which caused a considerable shrink- 
age in net weight. A properly paraffined tub is impervious to 
water and therefore is incapable of taking up moisture from the 
butter. If the tubs are not soaked in water the creamery should 
always put the tare on the tub. The unsoaked tub weighs from 
1 to 2 pounds less than the soaked tub. Without determination 
of the tare weight, this difference will be lost to the creamery. 

Soaking in water or brine before paraffining is desirable, 
however, in the case of tubs the staves and bottoms of which 
have shrunk to the point where a tight tub can not be secured 
and in order to hold the tub together. 

Before paraffining, the tubs should be steamed out thorough- 
ly until they are hot and dry. This opens the pores and permits 
the hot paraffine to penetrate. If they are paraffined while wet 
the paraffine will not penetrate, it merely sticks to the surface 
and is prone to peel off. If they are cold the paraffine cools 
before it has an opportunity to fill the pores, it fails to spread, 
in a thin, smooth and uniform layer and tends to crack. 

The paraffihe should be applied in such a way that it will 
coat the inside of the tub in the form of a thin film, filling the 



368 Packing Butter 

pores and cracks. The paraffine may be applied with a brush or 
by pouring a small amount into the tub and rotating the tub 
until the entire surface is covered, or it may be sprayed into the 
tub under pressure. The brush method is somewhat crude and 
tends to produce an uneven coating owing to rapid cooling of 
the paraffine. 

In order to secure satisfactory results and avoid a rough 
and uneven coating of paraffine, the paraffine must be heated 
to the proper temperature. Rogers^ found that at a temperature 
of 250 to 260 degrees F. the paraffine can be applied most satis- 
factorily. The paraffine may be heated over an oil stove or 
gas burner, but a more convenient arrangement, devised by 
Rogers, consists of a large pail or small tank equipped with a 
steam coil connected with the steam line of the creamery, and a 
drip is provided extending through the bottom of the tank and 
permitting the condensed steam in the coil to escape. A small 
amount of the hot paraffine is dipped from the tank into the tub, 
the tub is rotated so that the paraffine covers its entire inside 
surface. Then the tub is inverted on a galvanized iron drip tray in 
order to pour out, and reclaim any excess paraffine in the tub. 
Such an outfit can be constructed at small cost and is very 
serviceable, especially in small creameries. 

There are now on the market also patented paraffiners 
which both steam and paraffine the tub. The paraffine is heated 
by a steam heated jacket. The tub is inverted over the paraffin- 
er and steamed and sprayed with paraffine under pressure. These 
machines operate very fast, coating the tub with a smooth 
layer of uniform thickness and economizing the paraffine. These 
paraffiners are rapidly replacing the dipper and brush method. 

Aside from protecting butter against mold contamination 
and mold growth the paraffining of tubs is advisable in order 
to minimize loss in weight due to leakage of moisture and to 
give the tub a neater appearance. Rogers' found the following- 
loss of moisture in 12 paraffined and 12 unparaffined tubs of 
butter on the eighth day after packing: 



' Rogers, Prevention of Molds in Butter Tubs, U. S. Dept. Agr. B. A. I. 
Bull. 89. 1906. 



Packing Butter 



369 



Paraffined tubs 
Pounds of butter 
757M 
756 



Unparaffined tubs 
Pounds of butter 

766>4 

759 



When packed 

8 days later 

Shrinkage 1^ 7^ 

When paraffine of the proper temperature is used, from two 
to three ounces are required per tub. The labor cost of paraffin- 
ing is no greater than that of preparing a saturated brine solution. 



%*m 




Tig. 72. Tub Farafflner 

Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 

It is advisable to paraffine tubs and to clean covers as 
shortly before they are needed as the routine of the factory 
permits, and to stack them, inverted, in a clean place, so as to 
prevent unnecessary soiling and recontamination. 

Paraffined tubs should always be lined with parchment liners 
and circles, the same as the tubs prepared in the ordinary way. 
Unlined paraffined tubs strip with difficulty, the butter sticks to 
the comparatively rough surface of the paraffine. This is a 
serious objection at the market end. 

Preparation of Parchment Liners and Circles. — The best 
quality of parchment liners only should be purchased. Inferior 
parchment invites excessive leakage of moisture and may injure 
the flavor of the butter. In the summer season, when the 
butter is often exposed to temperature conditions that cause it 
to be soft and therefore to yield readily to the knocks to which 
the tub is subjected in transit, there is always a tendency for 



370 Packing Butthr 

moisture to be pounded out. Evaporation at the higher tem- 
perature is also most rapid. It is advisable, therefore, to use 
extra heavy liners in summer. 

The liners should be of ample size so they will abundantly 
lap on the side, fold under at the bottom and lap over at the 
top. The circles should be large enough to cover the entire 
bottom of the tub. There is a tendency on the part of supply 
houses to furnish liners and circles that are of inadequate dimen- 
sions, unless the desired dimensions are specifically demanded. 

The stock of parchment liners and circles should be kept 
in a clean, dry room, protected against dust, dirt and dampness. 
They should not be stored in the creamery cold room which is 
almost always damp. 

Immediately before use they should be thoroughly soaked in 
hot saturated brine. The brine should be of such strength that 
a deposit of undissolved salt forms in the receptacle, it should 
be supersaturated, and its temperature should be raised to the 
boiling point. The circles and liners should be soaked in this 
hot brine for at least 5 minutes. Such treatment is a three-fold 
protection against mold development. The heat destroys mold 
spores that may adhere to the parchment, the soaking frees 
the parchment from much of its glucose content and glucose 
is an ideal food for bacteria, and the brine adhering to the parch- 
ment helps to inhibit the growth of mold germs that may be 
in or on the butter. 

This treatment should be given parchment liners and cir- 
cles used for packing unsalted butter as well as salted butter. 
The unsalted butter, because of the readiness with which it be- 
comes moldy, needs these precautions more urgently than the 
salted butter. The fact that the brine-treated liner conveys 
some salt to the surface of the butter needs no serious consider- 
ation. The very small amount of salt thus imparted to butter 
is not noticeable and does not remove such butter from the 
class of unsalted butter 

The lining of the tubs should be done with care. The bot- 
tom circle should be so placed as to cover the entire bottom of 
the tub, and the line should be strung around the periphery of 
the tub uniformly and neatly, and in such a manner as to cause 
one inch of the liner to project above the top of the tub. 



Packing Butter 371 

The tub covers should also receive some attention. They 
often contain cinders, soot and dust, which they usually gather 
in transit to the creamery and in the creamery stock room. 
These impurities, when the cover is fastened to the packed 
tub, drop on the salt which is generally sprinkled on the top 
circle and they soil both the salt and the circle, give the pack- 
age, when opened by the prospective buyer, an unsightly ap- 
pearance and convey an unfavorable impression. If the tub 
happens to be subjected to very rough handling, they even may 
work into the butter. It is important, therefore, that the tub 
covers be thoroughly cleaned before they are fastened to the 
tub. This can readily be done by turning them bottomside up 
and turning the water hose on them until they are freed from 
all foreign matter. 

Boxes and Cubes. — Some of the Eastern markets require 
the butter to be packed in square wooden boxes, holding about 
50 pounds of butter. These boxes should be constructed of 
good sound wood, with bottoms, sides and tops at least one-half 
inch, and ends at least J/s inch thick, properly assembled and 
nailed with 4 penny cement-coated wire nails. They should be 
paraffined and otherwise treated in the same manner as the tubs 
and carefully lined with parchment paper. 

In the Pacific Coast markets, both for domestic and for 
export trade, the cube is the standard butter package. The 
San Francisco Wholesale Dairy Produce Exchange issued offi- 
cial regulations concerning the size, shape and preparation of 
the cube, which vvent in force Feb. 1, 1916, as follows: 

'Tn order to grade as 'extras' butter must be packed in cubes 
as follows : The materials of the sides, tops and bottoms shall 
be one-half inch in thickness and the ends ]4 inch in thickness. 
Lumber to be surfaced on both sides, and corners of cubes 
nosed and rounded. Inside dimensions shall be 12^4x12^x13^ 
inches and the cubes shall be packed to a uniform weight of 6*) 
pounds net at churn and marked 68 pounds on each end of each 
cube, as the shrinkage from creamery to market is about one 
pound. The cubes shall be paraffined on the inside and lined 
with parchment paper." 



372 Packing Butter 

Firkins. — Firkins are not used in this country for packing 
butter except on very rare occasions. They are a popular but- 
ter package in European countries especially for export and 
storage butter (Dauerbutterj. Firkins (Drittel) hold 50 kilo- 
grams or 110.23 pounds of butter. These barrels are 55 cm. 
(22 inches) in height and their diameter in the center and at 
the ends is 34 and 41 cm. (13.6 and 16.4 inches) respectively. 
Before packing they are steamed, soaked in cold water, brine 
or sal soda solution, for one day, then rinsed out with hot water 
and again with cold water after which salt is rubbed 
into the staves on the inside. The bottom is then covered with 
a thin layer of salt, and the firkin is lined with parchment. 
After packing, the top of the butter is beveled ofif toward the 
sides and covered with a layer of salt. The object of having 
the surface of the butter highest in the center and tapering 
toward the sides is to permit the brine to run into the space 
between the butter and the side of the barrel when the butter, 
upon standing, has receded from the sides of the barrel ; this 
shuts out the air and assists in protecting the butter against 
mold, etc. 

Tin Cans. — Butter intended for the tropics and South Amer- 
ica and some butter supplied the U. S. Government is packed 
in hermetically sealed tin cans. Exporting houses buying their 
butter from American creameries and supplying the tropics buy 
the butter in tubs and repack it into tin cans, which are subse- 
quently hermetically sealed. These cans hold from ^ to 5 
kilograms, the metric system being used as the basis of weights. 
They are packed into cases and in order to prevent shaking and 
damage to the cans, the interstices between the cans and the 
sides of the case are filled in with some cheap, light packing ma- 
terial such as rice hulls, shavini^s, excelsior, corrugated paper, etc. 

The object of the use of a non-absorptive and hermetically 
sealed package is to prevent leakage of water and oil and to 
improve the keeping quality of the butter, exposed to unfavor- 
able temperature conditions, by excluding the air. Experiments 
conducted by Rogers^ show that sterile butter so packed and 



1 Rogers, "Canned Butter." U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A. I. Bulletin 
57. 1904. 



Packing Butter 3/3 

held for one hundred days at 23° C. showed no increase in acid- 
ity. From these results Rogers concludes that the causal rela- 
tion of physical agents such as heat and moisture to changes 
of the butter is excluded. In the case of non-sterile canned 
butter examination showed a marked change in the texture and 
flavor. The changes were gradual ; when about 25 days old, a 
distinct off-flavor was noticed which increased in intensity, un- 
til, at two hundred and ninety-seven days in one case and at 
two hundred and fifty-one days in another, there was a disagree- 
able, fishy flavor and a strong penetrating odor. There was also 
a correspondingly slow increase in the acidity. Micro-organ- 
isms which consisted almost entirely of lactic acid bacteria, a 
comparatively small number of Torula yeasts and a few lique- 
fying bacteria decreased rapidly until there were present only 
a few spore-forming liquefying bacteria. Owing to this marked 
decrease in germ life, Rogers attril)iites the increase in acidity 
and the off-flavor to the probable action of fat-splitting enzymes. 

Weigmann^ in a very extensive investigation studied the 
keeping quality of butter made by different processes and sealed 
in tin cans, samples of which were placed on board of German 
men-of-war and which were returned and examined at intervals 
of six, twelve and eighteen months. These results demonstrated 
that there is a great variation in the keeping quality of different 
lots of butter and that while prolonged storage under unfavor- 
able temperature conditions tended to intensify the deterioration 
of the butter, a few of the samples packed in tin cans returned in 
excellent conditicwi even after eighteen months' travel. While 
Weigmann's results were not conclusive and while his funda- 
mental aim was to determine that process of manufacture which 
would produce the best keeping butter, the data secured demon- 
strated that under certain ideal conditions of manufacture, butter 
packed in tin cans has remarkable keeping quality. 

In the canning of butter the tin plate used should be coated 
with shellac or enamel to protect the can against the action of 
the acids and the brine of the butter and to guard the butter 
against rapid deterioration as the result of such action. While 
tin itself is an inert metal that does not yield to the action of 



1 Weigmann, "Versuche zur Bereitung von Dauerbutter" Milchwirtschaft- 
liches Zentralblatt, Vol. 44. Nos. 23 and 24. 1915. 



374 Packing Butter 

acids and brine, iron is quickly corroded by these agents. The 
tin plate of the butter cans is sheet iron with a thin coating of 
tin. This tin coating is not always entirely impervious and 
sooner or later the acids and the brine will attack the iron un- 
derneath, unless the tin plate is heavily shellaced. Iron salts 
thus formed are disastrous to the quality of the butter. Of late 
years, and particularly as the result of the shortage of tin plate, 
cans constructed of aluminum are also being- used for pack- 
ing butter. 

Packing tubs, boxes, cubes and tins. — After the packages 

have been proj'ierly treated and lined, they are ready for the 
butter. They are now conveniently arranged in a row in front 
of the churn and the butter is transferred into them from the 
churn. Since the distribution of salt and moisture in the butter 
is seldom entirely uniform in all parts of the churn, butter 
from the same part of the churn should be distributed into 
the different tubs, boxes or cubes, so that all packages receive' 
butter from all parts of the churn. The butter should not be 
transferred with the naked hand. The skin of the perspiring 
operator should not touch the butter, he should either wear 
cotton gloves or rnl)l)er gloves, or use ladles, or both. Before 
u^ing the ladles and packers they should be thoroughly washed 
and steamed in order to prevent unnecessary contamination of 
the butter with germ life, then they should be soaked in cold 
water to prevent the butter from sticking to them. The gloves 
should be clean and sweet-smelling, and when taken off they 
should be placed in brine. 

It is important that the butter in the tub be packed very 
solidly, avoiding air pockets, especially between the butter and 
the sides of the package, which admit air and favor mold 
growth. Pockets in the body of the butter are undesirable also 
because these pockets collect the brine, cause uneven distribu- 
tion of the moisture, uneven color, and give the butter a leaky 
appearance. The package should be filled completely full and 
finished neatly on the surface. This is best done by filling the 
tub or box above the edge of the wood, tamping thoroughly 
with the packer and cutting off the surplus with a taut wire or 
a sharp piece of wood — wood is preferable. The border of the 



Packing Butter 375 

liner, which should project about one inch, is then neatly folded 
over toward the center and the butter is covered with the top 
circle, preferably of cloth, on which is strewn a handful of clean, 
dry salt. The tub cover is then fastened down with 3 to 5 tin 
fasteners, or in case of the box the lid is nailed down firmly. 
The package is weighed and marked with the net, tare and gross 
weight and the churning number, and is placed in the refrigera- 
tor until ready for shipment. The cold room should be clean, 
dry, and cold enough to chill and harden the butter before ship- 
ping. AVhen ready to ship, the address of the consignee is sten- 
cilled or plainly written on the tub cover. 

The numbering of each churning and the placing of the 
churning number on the tub, is an important precautionary meas- 
ure. It tells the receiver which tubs belong to the same churn- 
ing and therefore contain the same kind of butter. The receiver 
is able thereby to supply his customers with butter of uniform 
quality, salt and color.- In case the butter develops defects the 
receiver, when reporting to the creamery, is in a position to re- 
fer to the respective churning number as marked on the tub and 
the creamery then is able to investigate the conditions under 
which that particular churning was made. If the buttermaker 
keeps a full and systematic churn record, as he should, the num- 
bering of the churnings gives him an opportunity to prevent 
recurrence of the reported defect. 

Butter Prints. — Formerly butter was retailed direct in bulk 
packages, such as tubs, boxes and cubes. At the present time 
the trend is toward individual or consumer's packages in the 
form of one, two and five pound rolls, and one-quarter, one-half, 
one, two and five pound prints. Much of the butter that goes to 
the wholesale trade in bulk packages, is printed by the wholesale 
receiver, commission man, jobber, or butter cutter before it 
reaches the retail store. In most of these cases the wholesale 
dealer packs the butter under his own brand, for which he estab- 
lishes a special trade. In other cases the retailer uses his own 
special brand and furnishes the wrappers and cartons to the 
creamery. Some wholesalers handle prints put up by the cream- 
ery under the creamery's brand, in which case they pay about 
one cent more per pound than in bulk. Most of the butter which 



376 



Packing Butter 



the creamery sells direct to the retail store is sold in prints. 
During the fall and winter, when the output is at ebbtide, many 
creameries print all their butter. 

The individual or consumer's packages are two pound prints 

or rolls, one pound prints, one-half pound prints and bars and 
one-quarter pound prints. The predominating consumer's pack- 





Fig-. 74. Priday Box 



Pig-. 73. 



Priday Printer 

Courtesy J. G. Cherry Co. 



age is the one pound print of the following standard dimensions : 
2^ X 2^ X 4^ inches, wrapped in parchment, or wax paper, or 
both and slipped into a carton. Some creameries wrap an 
additional paper around the carton and seal it at both ends. 
Considerable quantities of butter are sold in one-half pound 
and one-quarter pound prints wrapped in the same manner as 
the one pound prints and varying in shape from a flat slab 
to a so-called hotel bar. In New England, efforts are made 
to establish a one pound print having twice the width, half 
the depth and the same length as the standard one pound 
print. Within the last few years the practice of putting the one 
pound prints up in the form of four one-quarter pound bars. 



Packing Butter 377 

each wrapped separately in parchment paper, has found much 
favor as a means to accommodate the consumer and increase 
sales. 

In accordance with the Federal Pure Food laws all individual 
or consumer's packages must l)e marked in plain and legible 
letters with the net weight of the contents. Packages weighing 
one pound or over must have the net weight indicated in terms 
of pounds, packages weighing less than one pound must have 
their net weight indicated in terms of ounces. 

A law passed by the New York State Legislature in 1912 
provides for the following tolerances in the weight of print 
butter: 

"The maximum variation allowed on a pound print to be 
three-eighths of an ounce on an individual print, provided that 
the average error of twelve prints, taken at random, shall not 
be over one-fourth of an ounce per pound. The maximum varia- 
tion allowed on two-pound prints to be one-half ounce, provided 
that the shortage on twelve prints, taken at random, be not 
more than three-eighths of an ounce for two pounds. 

"Prints that are not of one pound or two pounds must be 
marked in letters at least three-eighths of an inch in height, 
giving the correct weight in terms of ounces, or pounds and 
ounces." 

Methods of Printing, — The printing of butter is done in 
various ways. Some creameries transfer their butter from the 
churn to a table from which it is printed while soft, by the use 
of one-pound hand molds, or by the use of a mold sunk into the 
table and worked with a hand lever. In some European cream- 
eries the soft butter, coming from the churn or worker, is placed 
on an automatic, revolving printing table. This table is equip- 
ped with several molds. The butter is piled into these molds, 
which pass under a mechanical plunger that tamps it into the 
mold, then under a stationary knife that removes the surplus 
butter, after which the finished print is released. Most of the 
American creameries pack the butter from the churn into spe- 
cially made crates, boxes or cubes, set it in the cooler over night 
to permit the butter to harden and then cut it into prints by 
means of wire cutters. To this type of printers belong the 



378 Packing Butter 

Friday, the Low, the Simpson, the Miller printers, and others. 
For cutting- tub butter a machine that utilizes all the culls is most 
practical. For this purpose the American Butter Cutter is used 
very generally. 

When printers of the type of the Friday printers are used, 
it is advisable to line the boxes with parchment before packing. 
This keeps the surface of the butter cleaner, it protects it against 
the injurious effect of contact with the iron parts of the cubes, 
it minimizes the amount of scraps that have to be disposed of at 
a loss. It is desirable also to cover each Friday cube, after 
packing, with a properly fitting cover. 




Fig". 75. C. r. MiUer Hydraulic Cutter for Frozen or Otherwise 

Very Firm Butter 

Courtesy L. C. Sharp Mfg. Co. 

The cutting of the butter should be done with clean taut 
wires, free from rust. Piano steel wire is used for this purpose. 
For the good of the flavor of the prints, tinned wire only should 
be used. Any butter adhering to the bare steel wire soon causes 
it to rust and the action on the metal gives the butter a very 
disagreeable, puckery, metallic flavor. 

The mechanical operation of the butter printer should be 
performed in such a manner as to insure prints with square 
corners and straight, sharp edges. The handling of the prints 
should not be done with bare hands. It can readily be done 
with ladles or sticks. The operator who cuts the butter and 
places it on the wrapping table, and the person who puts the 
first wrapper around the print, should wear clean gloves, prefer- 
ably freshly laundered, white cotton gloves. The printing should 
be done in a clean, cool room, screened from flies, and properly 
ventilated. 



Packing Butter 379 

In order to insure correct weights, each print should be 
passed over an accurate scale. No matter how accurately the 
wires of the cutter are set, they yield to the resistance of the 
butter and are apt to stretch. The weighing of each print is the 
only reliable guarantee against short weights and overweights. 
Unsalted butter is slightly lighter than salted butter, so that 
prints of unsalted butter must be very slightly larger than those 
of salted butter in order to weigh the same. 

The wrapping is done either by cheap help, boys or girls, 
or by wrapping machines, which wrap the butter, place it in 
cartons, and wrap and seal the cartons with great rapidity and 
precision. The first wrapper should be a parchment wrapper. 
This should be treated in a similar manner as the tub liners. 
For maximum convenience a wooden box about 20 inches long 
and with an inside width slightly greater than the width of the 
one pound parchment wrapper may be used. This box may be 
installed in a convenient place in the print room, it should 
have an overflow and be connected with the steam and water 
line. While the print room is in operation this box is kept full 
of boiling hot brine, containing enough salt, so that there is 
always a visible deposit of undissolved salt in the bottom. A 
little steam should run into this brine continually, so as to keep 
the brine at boiling heat. 

For suspending the parchment wrappers in the brine, 
wooden clamps of sufficient length may be used. A bunch 
of wrappers is fastened into the clamps, the clamps are placed 
across the box and the wrappers swing and soak in the 
brine. In this manner all but the top inch of the wrappers is 
soaked. It is not desirable to wet the entire wrapper because the 
sheets then stick to one another and delay the work of wrapping. 
The wrappers should be soaked in the boiling hot brine for at 
least 5 minutes and the brine should be renewed at least once each 
day. The same treatment may be given wrappers used for 
unsalted butter. 

High grade parchment wrappers, properly parchmented and 
free from all kinds of specks, are the most economical. Parch- 
ment wrappers frequently contain very minute specks of metallic 
lustre. Microchemical examination of these specks shows that 



380 Packing Butter 

they consist of copper or of some alloy containing copper such 
as brass or german silver. These metal specks are acted upon 
by the salt and acid in the butter. Gradually a green spot or 
circle forms on the wrapper and on the butter at the point of 
contact, showing verdigris, giving the butter an unsightly and 
suspicious appearance, and actually rendering it unwholesome. 




Pig*. 76. Unit of Peters Fackagre Machinery 

This machine forms and lines the carton, folds the wrapper and closes 
the carton, and wraps and labels the carton. Courtesy Peters Machinery Co. 

Such butter is usually rejected by the consumer. With pro- 
longed age the action of these metallic specks bleaches the entire 
print and gives it a rank tallowy flavor and odor. Parchment 
wrappers used for butter should be free from these metallic 
impurities. 

The second wrapper is a wax paper. It consists of paper 
coated on both sides with a thin film of paraffine, the paper 
having been passed through a paraffine bath. The wax paper 
wrapper furnishes additional protection against evaporation and 
against the deteriorating action of air. Experimental trials and 
commercial experience have demonstrated that butter actually 
does keep better, especially is the flavor on the outside of the 
print preserved, by the double wrapper. 



Packing Butter 381 

The wrapped print is slipped into a carton. If the carton 
is the final enclosure, it is usually of high quality stock, paraf- 
fined, and bears the name and trade mark of the creamery. 
Creameries placing a special wrapper on the outside of the 
carton, generally use a cheaper grade, plain carton, and have 
their name and trade mark placed on this outside wrapper. 
Occasionally also printed matter with information for the con- 
sumer concerning the quality of the butter, also premium labels, 
etc., are slipped into the carton. 

Packing in Boxes. — The prints, wrapped and placed in 
cartons, are packed into wooden or fibre boxes, usually holding 
from 10 to 50 one pound prints. Some of the larger creameries 
have their name and trade mark stencilled or burnt onto the 
ends of the box. This adds to the attractiveness of the package 
and advertises the brand. Of recent years, carton or fibre boxes 
have come into extensive use for packing and shipping prints. 

The chief virtue of the fibre boxes lies in their relative 
cheapness, averaging at least five cents less per box. They are 
used to good advantage for local shipments of print butter and 
especially during the cold season. For long distance shipments 
of print butter and particularly during the hot summer season, 
corrugated fibre boxes and similar paper boxes are less suitable. 
Under these conditions the boxes often become soaked with the 
brine of the butter and thus sufifer seriously in transit. The 
reason for this is that corrugated fibre boxes are not as rigid 
as wooden boxes ; in summer, due to the heat, the butter is soft 
and the rough handling to which these boxes are subjected, 
causes this soft butter to become mutilated ; this in turn results 
in the expulsion of a portion of the brine of the butter, which 
soaks through the carton of these boxes. Grocery stores often 
also object to the fibre boxes, because these boxes are not as 
serviceable and convenient to use in the store and on the delivery 
wagon as wooden boxes. 

Most of the wooden boxes for print butter are made of 
poplar, hemlock or spruce. The majority of these are bought 
in the knock-down shape and are made up in the creamery. 
Four-penny cement-coated wire nails are best suited for assem- 
bling the sides, ends, bottom and top. The most perfect boxes 



382 Packing Butter 

are tongued and grooved, but their greater expense causes their 
use to be limited. The usual weight of the lumber used for 
wooden boxes is one-half inch for the sides, top and bottom 
and three-fourths inch for the ends. For large creameries the 
assembling of the boxes by the use of nailing machines is 
most economical. Of late, wire-bound boxes have come into 
use for packing and shipping prints. These boxes, while 
they are light, are stronger than the nailed boxes, their initial 
cost is slightly lower and the expense of assembling them is 
smaller, requiring less labor and fewer and smaller nails. 
Wire-bound boxes have the further advantage that they are 
practically burglar proof, avoiding loss of prints due to removal 
in transit. The correct size of boxes for standard size one pound 
prints is 13 X 13 X 10 inches for 50 pound boxes. 

Too little attention has been paid by many creameries to 
the quality and neatness of these shipping boxes and to the 
manner of packing itself. Poor material, shiftless nailing and 
the use of second hand boxes should be avoided. The boxes 
should be of the proper size, so that they can be filled full with 
prints. The packing of 10 prints into a thirty pound box and 
filling in with diverse refuse material, such as paper, straw, etc., 
is a poor policy which often results in mutilation of the prints 
and unsightly appearance. Too large boxes also involve exces- 
sive expense of transportation. Most boxes see rough handling 
in transit and unless they are strongly constructed and properly 
packed they are apt to reach their destination in damaged con- 
dition. This is especially the case with long-distance shipments 
and with export shipments. 

Advantage of Selling in Consumer's. Packages. — It is obvious 
that the expense of the package and of packing is greater in the 
case of prints than in the case of tubs, boxes or cubes. The 
difference in cost, including package and labor, averages from 
one-half to one and one-half cent. This extra expense is borne 
by the consumer; print butter averages usually about one cent 
more than tub butter, at the sales end. The consumer's package 
has several distinct advantages. The butter when sealed in 
the consumer's package at the creamery or in the wholesale deal- 
er's establishment, is effectively protected against further agencies 



Packing Buttkr 383 

of contamination and deterioration. The package is opened only 
by the consumer; and usually reaches him therefore in more 
satisfactory condition. The individual package is the most con- 
venient form for distribution through the retailer's stores and 
for use by the consumer. The butter is protected against agen- 
cies of deterioration such as light, air and rapid changes in 
temperature, after it reaches the consumer. Butter bearing the 
trade mark of the manufacturer or dealer, as is the case with 
butter sold in the individual package, serves as an effective 
advertising means. If the butter is of uniformly acceptable 
quality, the consumer soon becomes familiar with that particular 
brand and will assume the habit of calling for that brand. In 
the case of occasional batches of low grade butter it is advisable 
to use either a plain wrapper or a special brand reserved for 
second grade butter only, in order not to jeopardize the reputa- 
tion of the established brand. 

Packing Farm Butter. — Butter made on the farm is put on 
the market in diverse packages. Butter that goes to the country 
store is usually packed in crocks, but considerable butter reaches 
the store also in the form of rolls. Crocks have the advantage 
that they protect the butter against abrupt temperature changes. 
If the crock is well glazed on the inside, it is fairly sanitary. 
Poorly glazed crocks are porous. The pores fill with grease and 
curd which are not removed by ordinary methods of washing and 
which cause the crock to become foul-smelling and to serve as 
a constant source of contamination with agencies detrimental 
to the quality of the butter. The crock is objectionable also 
because of its weight and its frailty. 

Some farm butter is put up in rolls weighing 1, 2 or 5 
pounds and usually wrapped in parchment. Fancy or individual 
molds are also quite popular. The tendency, however, is to print 
the butter into standard size one pound prints and put them on 
the market wrapped in parchment and packed in cartons. The 
standard size print is, all things considered, probably the most 
desirable type of package for farm butter, especially when sold 
direct to residences, etc. The farmer who sells butter, in prints, 
wrapped in parchments and cartons bearing his name and trade 
mark is in a position to create a permanent call for it, provided 



384 Packing Butter 

that the butter is of good quality and uniform flavor, salt, and 
color, while butter sold in crocks, carton boxes, pails, etc., loses 
its identity when it leaves the farm and before it reaches the 
consumer. In the choice of cartons for the prints, paper cartons 
should be given preference over wooden cartons. Wooden car- 
tons such as are frequently used, lend the butter a woody flavor 
which is objectionable. 

Packing for Parcel Post Shipments. — Farm butter or cream- 
ery butter, to be shipped by parcel post, is best put up in pound 
prints, wrapped in water-proof parchment and sealed in paraf- 
fined cartons. The cartons are best inserted into corrugated 
pasteboard containers suitable for accommodating the different 
amounts to be shipped, and wrapped with good wrapping paper. 
Brand^ of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Markets, 
conducted an extensive study of the possibilities and limitations 
of shipping butter by parcel post. This investigation showed 
that under ordinary weather conditions practically no difficulty 
was experienced. The chief problem in shipping butter by parcel 
post is to prevent the butter from melting, mere softening did 
not prove injurious. While the difficulty is somewhat greater 
in summer than in winter, the fact that mail cars must be heated 
in winter, does not entirely remove the danger of overheating 
the butter during cold weather. Brand points out, however, that 
the regulations of the Post Office Department on this subject 
are of such a nature that it is possible to obviate this trouble to 
a considerable extent in cold weather by marking butter parcels 
as follows : "Perishable — Keep away from heating apparatus.*' 

He further offers the suggestions that over ordinary dis- 
tances and under average conditions butter wrapped as above 
directed, can be shipped without deterioration ; that it should 
always be chilled before shipment and chilled again immediately 
upon receipt by the consumer ; that it should be dispatched with, 
attention to the mail schedule so that it will be on the road as 
short a time as possible, and that shipments preferably should 
be timed to make the greater part of their journey at night, when 
temperatures are materially lower than during the day. ' 

One of the obstacles that has retarded the development of 

1 Brand, "Marketing by Parcel Post." U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Farmers' 
Bulletin 611, 1914, pp. 16 to 21. 



Packing Butter 385 

parcel post shipment of farm butter and similar farm produce 
has been the unfortunate tendency of some farmers to ask prices 
far above those current in their own rural localities and higher 
than those charged by fancy retail stores of the cities for butter 
of the same grade. It is obvious that the consumer will refuse 
to look to the parcel post service as a practical and desirable 
means to secure his butter, as long as he is unable to buy it 
through this channel at prices that are no higher than those 
which he is charged at the store. 

Packing Butter for Exhibits and Scoring Contests. — When 
preparing butter for exhibits and scoring contests neatness, 
attractiveness and protection against high temperature are of 
chief importance. For exhibits proper, butter may be used for 
diverse designs, representing certain objects, or it may be put up 
in neat commercial packages, attractively grouped and arranged. 
For scoring contests, where the chief object is score on the quality 
basis, the twenty pound white ash tub is the most suitable pack- 
age. It is large enough for all practical purposes of scoring and 
sampling for analysis, and it is small enough to avoid unneces- 
sary sacrifice of butter and excessive transportation charges. 
Scoring contest butter is usually not returned to the maker after 
the contest. In most cases it is sold and the returns are used 
towards defraying the expense of the scoring, in which case the 
entire package is lost to the creamery. In other instances the 
returns sre pro-rated among the contestants according to the 
pounds of butter entered, in many cases the creamery gets 
something back for its butter, though the price received for the 
butter after scoring, is usually very low, due to the damaged 
condition of the goods. The twenty pound tub is desirable also 
because it can be conveniently packed into a sixty pound tub 
for shipment. 

In putting up the scoring contest butter a perfect tub should 
be selected. This should be treated in the usual way, steamed, 
paraffined and neatly lined with brine-soaked parchment circles 
and liners. The butter should be packed into it very firmly with 
sterile and cooled ladles and packers and in a clean, cool room. 
The packing should be finished in the neatest possible way. 
After cutting the surplus butter oflf the top so as to leave a 



386 Packing Butter 

perfectly level and smooth surface, the liner extending one inch 
above the edge of the tub is carefully folded over the butter with 
clean hands, a clean cloth circle is placed on top and on this is 
sprinkled a little clean dry salt, evenly distributed. After the 
lid is put on the tub, the outside of the tub should l)e sand- 
papered until it is perfectly smooth and clean. Then the lid is 
neatly fastened down to the tub with three to five standard 
fasteners. 

The twenty pound tub is then dropped into a sixty pound 
tub and clean paper, clean shavings, excelsior, sawdust or other 
insulating material, is solidly packed between the inside and 
outside tub, bottom, sides and top. It is advisable to place the 
60 pound tub and the packing material into the creamery cold 
room several days before use, so as to thoroughly chill them. 
The lid is then fastened to the sixty pound tub, it is tagged with 
the name and address of the maker and the addressee. Then it 
is best set into the cold room for twenty-four hours before ship- 
ping, in order to harden the Initter. 

Butter put up as above directed will reach its destination at 
any reasonable distance in good and attractive condition. The 
cold packing around the inside tub furnishes a splendid insula- 
tion, guarding against rapid warming up, which would prove 
detrimental to the delicate flavor of the butter and disadvan- 
tageous to the buttermaker's chances of success in the contest. 
Some buttermakers fill the space between the two tubs with 
crushed ice. This is unsatisfactory because it detracts from the 
neatness of the exhibition tub. Also the ice generally melts in 
transit and if the tub is put in cold storage before scoring, as 
is usually the case, the water between the two tubs will freeze 
into a solid mass, converting the entire package into one insep- 
arable unit. The only means to get the inside tub out in such 
a case is to chop off the staves of the outside tub with an ax. 
If the butter judge has to attend to the unpacking himself these 
difficulties may have an unfavorable, though entirely uncon- 
scious, effect on the score of the troublesome tub. Aside from 
these objections melted ice is a good conductor of heat and 
therefore makes very poor insulation, while sawdust, paper, 
wood shavings, etc., hold cold very efficiently. 



Packing Butter 



387 



Loss of Moisture in Packing. — When butter is packed into 
tubs and boxes some moisture is lost, as a certain amount of 
water is thereby pounded out of the butter. A small additional 
loss of moisture further occurs in the cutting and printing of the 
butter. The average loss of moisture due to packing of 619 
different churnings of butter at the Purdue University Creamery 
is shown in the following table : 



^ Table 58. — Showing Difference of Moisture Content Between 
Chum and Box Samples — Averages Grouped According to 
Season of Year. 





Loss of Moisture Due to Packing from Churn to Friday Box 


Year 


April, May 

and June 

% Moisture 


July, August 

and September 

% Moisture 


October, 

November and 

December 

% Moisture 


January, 

February and 

March 

% Moisture 


1907-8 
1908-9 
1909-10 
1910-11 


.27 
.50 
.52 
.49 


.57 
.89 
.61 
.44 


.40 
1.04 

.61 
1.04 


1.45 
.82 
.90 

1.58 


Averages 


.44 


.63 


.77 


1.18 



The least difference between the churn and box samples was 
shown in April, May and June. The difference increased grad- 
ually and was highest in January, February and March, when it 
averaged over 1 per cent. 

This gradual increase of the loss of moisture, due to pack- 
ing, from early summer to spring is interesting. It suggests 
that it is the result of the increasing firmness of the butter 
during the same time. The winter butter is firmer than the 
summer butter, more pounding' is required in packing firm l)utter 
than in the case of soft butter. 

The loss of moisture by packing varies considerably with 
individual churnings. It depends on how well the moisture is 
incorporated. Leaky butter may lose several per cent, of mois- 



1 These figures represent the differences between the churn samples and 
the tub or box samples. In every case the churn samples contained more 
moisture tlian the tub or box samples. 

1 Hunziker, Mills & Spitzer, Moisture Control of Butter, Purdue Bulletin, 
160. 1912. 



388 



Packing ButtivR 



ture during packing. Under all normal conditions the butter-: 
maker may expect a loss of at least ^ per cent moisture due to 
packing from the churn into the tub or box. 

Table 59. — Moisture Content of Butter Before and After Print- 
ing with Friday Printer. The Samples Were Taken from 
Friday Cubes in the Cooler and Again from Prints of the 
Same Cubes after Wrapping. The Weight of All Prints 
Was One Pound, Each, Each Lot of Butter Represents a 
Different Churning. 



Lots 
of 






Percent Moisture 






Before Printing 


After Printing 




Butter 














Average 




A 


B 


Average 


A 


B 


Average 


Loss 


1 


15.8 


15.9 


15.85 


15. 4f 


15.9 


15.65 


.20 


2 


15.3 


15.3 


15.30 


14.8? 


14.8 


14.80 


.50 


3 


15.8 


15.9 


15.85 


15.9, 


15.9 


15.90 


+ .05 


4 


15.4 


15.1 


15.25 


15.4 


15.4 


15.40 


+ .15 


5 


15.6 


15.7 


15.65 


15.7 


15.5 


15.60 


.05 


6 


15.1 


15.1 


15.10 


15.4 


15.2 


15.30 


+ .20 


7 


15.9 


15.9 


15.90 


15.8 


15.9 


15.85 


.05 


8 


15.7 


15.8 


15.75 


15.7 


15.7 


15.70 


.05 


9 


15.7 


15.9 


15.80 


15.6 


15.7 


15.65 


.15 


10 


15.3 


15.3 


15.30 


15.3 


15.1 


15.20 


.10 


Average 






15.58 






15.51 


.07 



The loss of moisture that occurs during the process of 
printing obviously depends, aside from the completeness of 
moisture incorporation, on the method of printing employed and 
the firmness of the butter. Butter that is printed direct from the 
churn with the hand mold, while it is still soft, is not prone to 
lose much moisture. Butter that is packed in cubes or crates, 
which are subsequently placed in the cold room over night and 
then printed by simply cutting it with wires, as is the case with 
the Friday printer, also suffers but very little loss of moisture. 
This is readily shown by the following analyses of butter before 
and after printing: 

In the case of tub butter that has been allowed to harden 
and is subsequently stripped and printed by the use of the Amer- 



Packing Butter 



389 



lean Butter Cutter, the loss is ol)viously considerably greater, 
amounting to several tenths per cent. In this case the butter is 
not only cut, but considerably mutilated while it passes through 
the cutter, as shown in the following table which represents 
eighteen different lots of tub butter bought on the open market : 



Table 60. — Moisture Content of Butter Before and After Run- 
ning it Through the American Printer. The Samples Were 
Taken from the Stripped Tubs Before Cutting and Again 
from the Prints Made from the Butter, 





Percent Moisture 


Tub Numbers 










From Tubs 


From Prints 


Loss 


1 


15.3 


15.2 


.10 


2 


14.3 


14.0 


.30 


3 


14.9 


14.8 


.10 


4 


16.1 


15.9 


.20 


5 


16.0 


15.6 


.40 


6 


16.0 


15.6 


.40 


7 


14.9 


14.6 


.30 


8 


15.2 


14.7 


.50 


9 


14.6 


14.5 


.10 


10 


16.2 - 


15.9 


.30 


11 


15.9 


15.9 


.00 


12 


15.8 


15.4 


.40 


13 


15.4 


15.3 


.10 


14 


15.4 


15.2 


.20 


15 


15.3 


15.0 


.30 


16 


15.4 


15.1 


.30 


17 


15.9 


15.6 


.30 


18 


15.1 


14.9 


.20 


Average 


15.43 


15.18 


.25 



Cost of Packing. — The cost of packing butter varies largely 
with the cost of the package and the expense of labor. Prints 
are a more expensive package than tubs, boxes and cubes. The 
quality of wrappers, cartons and shipping boxes used and the 
elaborateness of the design on them further influence the expense 
of the package. The quantity in which the package is bought 
also affects its cost. In car load lots larger rebates, both in the 
price of the package and in the freight rates, may be secured. 



390 Packing Butter 

This difference naturally operates in favor of the large creamery 
and against the small creamery with limited operating capital. 
The use of machines for printing, wrapping and sealing the 
butter and for mailing the boxes reduces the help needed for 
labor. In the large creamery this work can be done by the 
cheapest kind of help, by young boys and girls, for there is 
enough work to be done to furnish steady employment for this 
kind of help. In the -small creamery where the printing and 
wrapping occupies only a part of one person's time, the creamery 
usually cannot secure special cheap help for this work and it is 
done by the more high-priced help, the buttermaker or his 
helper. 

The cost of putting up one-half pound prints in separate 
cartons is about one-third higher per pound and the cost of 
putting up one-quarter pound prints in separate cartons is about 
twice as high per pound of butter as the cost of putting up one 
pound prints. The cost of putting up one-half pound prints and 
one-quarter pound prints in one pound cartons is about one-fifth 
and one-fourth, respectively, higher than the cost of putting up 
one pound prints. 

Cost of Packing Butter in Tins. — Two sizes of tins for 
packing butter are accepted as standard tins by the United 
States Navy, the net 5 pound tin and the net 6 pound 6 ounce 
tin. The 5 pound tins are packed in boxes holding 16 tins, the 
6 pound 6 ounce tins are packed in boxes holding 12 tins. In 
May, 1918, the cost of the package (5 pound tins), including 
tins, boxes, corrugated paper liners and strap iron, was about 
$2.44 per 1000 tins or about 3 cents per pound of butter. To this 
should be added the cost of nails and labels which amounts to 
less than .05 of one cent. The labor, when large quantities of 
butter are tinned, is but very slightly more than that of printing 
and wrapping butter, but for average conditions it should be 
placed at one-half to three-quarters of one cent per pound. This 
then, would make the total cost of packing butter in tins about 
3 1 cents per pound. 

It is customary for the manufacturers of tin cans to loan 
to the creamery a sealing machine, for closing the cans after 
they are packed. The rental basis is usually about $25 per year 



Packing Buttkr for I". S. Navy 391 

plus the freight on the machine both ways and plus an insur- 
ance premium of about $3.50 per year on the value of the 
machine. 

These prices and terms are naturally subject to changes. 
They prevailed in the spring of 1918. 

GENERAL DIRECTIONS FOR PACKING BUTTER 
FOR THE UNITED STATES NAVY. 

Tinned and Tub or Cube Butter — Quality. 

"Shall be fresh butter, made from fresh pasteurized cream 
(held at a temperature of 145° F. for 25 minutes, or at 176° F. 
for an instant), none of which shall at any time contain more 
than 0.27 per cent of acid, calculated as lactic acid, for butter 
scoring 94, or 0.234 per cent for butter scoring 95 (or more acid 
in 50 c. c. of cream than will be neutralized by 15 c. c. of N/10 
alkali solution for butter scoring 94, or 13 c. c. for butter scoring 
95) ; nor shall the cream contain more than 35 per cent butter fat. 

"Shall be strictly of the highest grade of creamery butter, at 
least two-thirds of which must score not less than 95 and the 
rest not less than 94 when made. 

"Moisture in the finished prcxluct at time of packing must not 
exceed 13^ per cent for tinned butter and 14 per cent for tub 
or cube butter. There must be no preservative used other than 
common salt, and that shall be at a rate giving not less than 
2^ per cent or more than 3% per cent salt in the finished 
product at time of packing. 

Inspection and Tests. 

"The ingredients, manufacture, sanitation, packing, boxing. 
marking, and shipping of the butter shall be subject to inspec- 
tion by G()\-ernment inspectors, who shall have full authority 
to reject any package or lot of milk, cream, or finished butter, 
and to enforce compliance with the requirements of these speci- 
lications as well as to demand first-class work in every particular. 

"The Government inspector shall make all the necessary tests 
to determine that the acid in the milk or cream and the salt and 
moisture contents in the butter are within the limits specified. 



392 Packing Buttkr for U. S. Navy 

"At the option of the Bureau of Supplies and Accounts, the 
contractor or his agents may, however, be required to make all 
the tests necessary to determine that the acid in the milk or 
cream and the salt and water contents of the butter are within 
the limits specified, and all such tests made by the contractor 
or his agents shall be subject to supervision, verification, and 
approval by Government inspectors. 

Containers — Tinned Butter. 
"Tins. — Tins to be made of prime coke plate weig'hing not less 
than 90 pounds per box of 112 sheets, size 14 inches by 20 inches. 
Side seams to be of either lock or lap type and soldered on out- 
side only. Top and bottom ends to be lined with sanitary lining 
compound of suitable gasket before being double-seamed on. 

"Tops and bottoms to be completely covered on the inside 
and outside with processed lacquer so that there will be no un- 
tinned edges exposed on the inside of the can. Inside and outside 
of cans, tops, bottoms and sides, except necessary margin for 
soldering side seams, to be lacquered before plate is manufac- 
tured into the finished container, with processed lacquer, which 
is to be baked on at a temperature of approximately 380° F. 
The unlacquered margin of side seam to be covered with air- 
drying lacquer after can is finished. 

■'Two sizes of tins will be acceptable, viz., tins containing 5 
pounds net weight, as used heretofore, and standard No. 10 
sanitary type tins containing approximately 6 pounds 6 ounces. 

"The tins must be packed completely full, leaving no air 
space. Net weight only to be paid for. 

"Packing. — The butter must be packed in thoroughly clean 
tins, and the tins fully sealed and marked immediately as di- 
rected, the creamery where the butter is made, the butter to be 
packed Vvrithin two hours after the time of churning. 

"Sealing. — Each tin must be hermetically sealed by mechan- 
ical process, without the use of solder. 

"Cases. — The cases shall be made of well-seasoned lumber, 
planed on outside; tops, bottoms, and sides to be not less than 
full Yi. inch and ends not less than full {f inch thick when 
finished. To be securely nailed and strapped with ^-inch flat 



Packing Butter for U. S. Navy 393 

iron. On each case shall be plainly stenciled or stamped the 
actual net weight of butter contained therein, the score, name 
of contractor, brand (optional with contractor), number of con- 
tract, and date of packing; cases shall be free from all other 
marks, except such as may be placed thereon by the Government 
inspector. Five-pound tins are to be packed 16 to the case, and 
No. 10 tins 12 to the case. Each tin must be plainly marked 

" pounds net .... butter," name of contractor, and date 

of packing, and shall be carefully v^rapped in paper and packed 
in saw^dust; the cases shall be completely filled v^^ith sawdust. 
Suitable corrugated paper liners and paper fillers may be used 
in lieu of sawdust, in which case it will not be necessary to wrap 
each tin in paper, but all motion of tins must be prevented if this 
style of packing is used. 

Containers — Tub Butter. 
"Tubs. — The butter must be put up in regular, sound, first 
quality white-ash tubs, provided with sound covers and five sound 
hoops, two at the bottom, one at the center, and two near the 
top ; tubs to hold from 60 to 65 pounds net weight each. The 
tubs must be soaked in the usual manner, properly steamed, and 
immediately coated on the inside with paraffine having a tem- 
perature of not less than 240° F. when applied. They must then 
be lined with parchment paper (side lining, bottom and top cir- 
cles), which must first have been sterilized and then soaked in 
a clean brine solution for at least 30 minutes immediately pre- 
ceding the time at which they are used. 

"Packing.— The parchment lining must OA'erlap the bottom 
and the top edges of the butter at least half an inch. The butter 
must be packed immediately after it is made, and each tub must 
be packed solid throughout and completely filled. A cloth circle 
must be placed on top of the parchment circle of each tub and 
covered with a thin layer of salt. The tub covers must be se- 
curely fastened by two strips of substantial flat iron not less 
than Yi inch in width securely fastened to the sides of the tub 
and brought over the cover at right angles. 

"By means of a suitable rubl^er stamp and stamp ink each 
tub must be plainly marked on the cover and side with the net 
weight of the butter it contains, the name of the contractor, with 



394 The Overrun 

or without brand, number of contract, and the date of packing, 
and shall be free from all other marks, except such as may be 
placed thereon by the Government inspector. Net weight only 
to be paid for. 

''The letters in the rubber stamp must not be less than % 
inch square. Marking by means of stencil and blacking will not 
be permitted. 

Containers — Cube Butter. 

"Cases. — Cases to be cubical or rectangular in shape and 
to have a capacity of from 56 to 66 pounds; to be made of first 
quality white spruce or Pacific coast spruce or clear poplar lum- 
ber, cut true to gauge and planed on both sides; tops, bot- 
toms, and sides to be not less than ^ inch thick, and ends not 
less than % inch thick when finished ; to be well nailed with 
cement-coated nails, and strapped with 5^-inch flat iron or 
strong wire; otherwise to conform to all applicable require- 
ments of the specifications for containers for tub butter above, 
which include parafifin coating and parchment paper lining." 

Chapter. XIII. 
THE OVERRUN. 

Definition. — By the overrun is understood the difference 
between the pounds of butterfat churned and the pounds of 
butter made. The overrun is made possible by the fact that, in 
addition to butterfat, butter contains non-fatty constituents, such 
as moisture, salt, curd and small amounts of lactose, acid and 
ash. 

Importance. — The overrun is the financial "vitamine" of the 
creamery business. Under the present system of creamery oper- 
ation there is no margin left between the purchase price of the 
butterfat and the sales price of the butter, on which the creamery 
can do business. In fact, in a great many instances the cost per 
pound of butterfat is greater than the price received per pound 
of butter. The creamery must, therefore, depend on the overrun 
to pay for the cost of manufacture and sale of the butter and to 
make a reasonable profit. If it were not for the overrun 
the creamery could not do business on the present method of 



Tiir, Overrun 395 

paying the patrons for butterfat. The overrun, therefore, log- 
ically and rightfully belongs to the creamery. 

If the dairy farmer makes butter on the farm, the overrun 
he makes compensates him for his trouble, time, labor and 
expense involved in making and selling the butter. 

The Theoretical Overrun. — The theoretical overrun is a 
"pencil" overrun. It aims to indicate the maximum amount of 
butter that could l)e legitimately made from a given amount of 
butterfat, if all conditions of [cutter manufacture could be con- 
trolled with mathematical accuracy. 

The theoretical overrun shows, for example that, if there 

were no mechanical losses and if butter contained exactly 80 per 

cent of fat, the maximum amount of butter that could be made 

^ DD 
from 100 pounds of fat would be -57^- X 100 = 125 pounds and 

oO 

that, therefore, the maximum legitimate overrun is limited to 
125 — 100 == 25 per cent. 

In the commercial operation of the cream, however, it is a 
mechanical impossibility to establish the degree of accuracy that 
is assumed in the calculation of the theoretical overrun. No such 
standard of accuracy can be attained. For this reason the figures 
resulting from calculation of the theoretical overrun cannot serve 
as an acceptable standard for overrun. They fail to take into 
consideration the true possibilities and limitations of the overrun 
and they are prone to prove confusing and misleading. At best 
they can serve only as an approximate and arbitrary illustration 
for the elementary information of the layman. 

The Actual Overrun. — The actual overrun shows the differ- 
ence between the actual amount of butter churned out and the 
amount of butterfat bought and paid for. It is affected by a 
multitude of factors, which control, directly or indirectly, the 
determination of the amount of butterfat bought and churned 
and the amount of butter made. 

Conditions Influencing the Overrun. — As previously stated, 
the overrun is made possible by the fact that butter contains, 
in addition to the butterfat, water, curd, salt and ash. The 
larger the sum total of these non-fatty constituents, the smaller 



396 Th^ Overrun 

the amount of fat that is required to make one pound of butter, 
the more butter can be made from a given amount of fat, and 
the larger, therefore, will be the overrun. Consequently, the 
composition of the butter is the fundamental factor that con- 
trols the overrun. Other factors which influence the overrun 
are the accuracy of weights and tests of cream, butterfat 
shortages of cream routes and cream stations, the number and 
amount of mechanical losses of butterfat, such as loss of 
fat in the skim milk, in the buttermilk and through factory leaks, 
and accuracy of weights and tests of butter. 

Effect of Composition of Butter on Overrun. — Of the non- 
fatty constituents of butter, that control the overrun, the moist- 
ure, salt and curd are the only ingredients that need be consid- 
ered and the relative amount of which is large enough and is 
sufficiently variable to materially affect the overrun. The other 
non-fatty constituents, the ash, milk sugar and acid, all 
together total less than .5 of one per cent, they are practically 
constant and are not materially affected by the process of manu- 
facture under all normal conditions. 

Moisture. — The moisture exerts the greatest influence of 
the non-fatty constituents, on the overrun. It is present in 
larger amounts than all the other non-fatty constituents com- 
bined and it is the most variable. Its maximum limit in the 
United States is fixed by a ruling of the Internal Revenue De- 
partment below 16 per cent. According to this ruling butter con- 
taining 16 per cent moisture or over is no longer legal butter, 
but is classed as adulterated butter. 

Under all reasonable conditions of manufacture and of 
raw material, the moisture content of butter will not exceed 16 
per cent. There are times and conditions, however, when but- 
ter has an inherent tendency to naturally hold more moisture. 
This is especially the case in early summer when the cows are 
turned from dry feed to succulent pasture, and on account of 
their ravenous appetite for green feed they consume a great 
abundance of it. This causes the butterfat to have a low melt- 
ing point and to be abnormally soft. In this soft condition it 
mixes readily with water and has the power to retain relatively 
large quantities of it. With intelligent control of the churn- 
ing temperature and careful adjustment of the process of work- 



The Overrun 397 

ing, the buttermaker can, without much difficulty, hold the 
moisture content of his butter below the maximum limit of 
16 per cent, even under these abnormal conditions of raw mate- 
rial. 

There are other times and conditions when the butter has 
properties that cause it to take up and hold much less moisture 
than 16 per cent. This is usually the case in winter, when the 
cows are well advanced in their period of lactation and receive 
largely only dry feed. These conditions are conducive of rel- 
atively small size fat globules and fat of a relatively high melt- 
ing point, causing the fat to be very firm, in which condition it 
refuses to readily mix with and hold water. The tendency then 
is for butter to be low in moisture and the overrun to be corre- 
spondingly low. But here again, with the proper adjustment 
of the churning temperature and with the intelligent manipula- 
tion of the butter in the churn, the buttermaker can, without 
great difficulty, hold the moisture content of his butter close 
to the 16 per cent limit and thereby maintain a satisfactory 
overrun. 

These facts also explain why the buttermaker on the farm 
and the buttermakers in many small local creameries, who lack 
the knowledge, skill and e^juipment necessary to regulate the 
per cent moisture in butter, and who often pay no attention at 
all to moisture content, are unable to secure a satisfactory over- 
run in winter, and frec|nently exceed the 16 per cent moisture 
limit in summer. 

Since the overrun represents one of the all-essential factors 
in successful butter manufacture, and since, in the face of the 
keen competition and of the narrow margin of profit, the very 
life of the creamery depends on the overrun, it is the butter- 
maker's undisputed duty to hold the moisture content of his 
butter as close to the maximum limit permitted by law as possi- 
ble, consistent with maintenance of quality and making due 
allowance always for unavoidable variations. If the buttermaker 
adjusts his process in such a manner as to work to a moisture 
content of 15.5 per cent, he should experience no serious difficulty 
to stay within the requirements of the law, and at the same time 
to secure the maximum overrun that may be expected of him. 
other factors being under control. 



398 Tut Overrun 

Salt. — The salt represents the next largest non-fatty con- 
stituent of butter. The salt content of butter ranges from no 
salt to about 4.5 per cent salt, averaging about 3 per cent. 

It is obvious that the more salt butter contains, other 
factors being equal, the larger will be the overrun. Unsalted 
butter, therefore, yields a much lower overrun than salted but- 
ter, unless the legal moisture limit is exceeded or an abnormal 
amount of curd is incorporated in the unsalted butter, both of 
which practices are unlawful and would unfavorably affect the 
keeping quality of the resulting butter. 

The difference in overrun between unsalted butter and 
butter containing about 3 per cent salt is approximately 4.5 
per cent. With the price of butter at 40 cents, the sale of un- 
salted butter at the same price would cause the creamery to 
sacrifice 1.8 cents on every pound of butter manufactured. In 
other words, unsalted butter would have to be sold at a price 
approximately 1.8 cents higher than salted butter in order to 
secure the same returns for butterfat sold in the form of unsalted 
butter as that sold in the form of salted butter. 

Curd. — The curd content of butter is not generally consid- 
ered a factor of consequence from the standpoint of overrun. 
In properly made butter the curd content is small, averaging 
about 7 of one per cent, and it is fairly constant. If butter were 
not washed at all it would not exceed 1.5 per cent curd and 
would average around 1 to 1.25 per cent. In properly washed 
butter it is practically always below 1 per cent. In calculating 
the overrun, the curd is usually figured to be 1 per cent, allow- 
ing it to also represent the remaining traces of other non-fatty 
constituents, the ash, milk sugar and acid. 

Efforts are made occasionally, however, to increase the over- 
run by incorporating in butter, extraneous additional curd, in 
the form of wet or dry casein, or skim milk powder. In such 
cases the extraneous curd is added to the butter in the churn 
with the salt and it is worked in during the regular process of 
working. 

If the curd is so added, in form of starter, the increase of the 
curd content in the butter is very slight and barely perceptible 
by analysis, and there is no appreciable increase in the overrun. 



Thk Overrun 399 

If the curd is added to the butter in the form of dry casein, 
or skim milk powder, then the increase of the per cent curd found 
in such butter is very marked and is limited only by the amount 
of these products added. The curd content of the butter thus 
may be from 5 to 10 per cent or more and the increase in the over- 
run may amount as high as 15 per cent or more. In the case of 
skim milk powder a considerable amount of milk sugar is also 
retained in butter with the added curd, making the overrun still 
higher. Furthermore, the increased curd content of such butter 
augments the moisture-holding properties of the butter and un- 
less efforts are made to hold the per cent moisture in such butter 
to or below 16 per cent, the moisture content may far exceed this 
limit, causing a still greater overrun. 

The practice of working extraneous curd into butter in 
any manner is a pernicious practice. It is in violation of the 
law which forbids the incorporation in butter of any substance 
other than the fat of milk or cream and small portions of such 
other milk constituents as naturally enter into butter in the 
process of manufacture, with or without salt and with or with- 
out harmless coloring matter. Extraneous curd incorporation 
further is a positive detriment to the butter industry, because 
it causes rapid deterioration, injures the keeping quality and 
thereby displeases the consumer, reduces sales, depresses the 
price and invites the consumption of butter substitutes. 

Accuracy of Weights and Tests of Cream. — Since the over- 
run is calculated on the basis of butterfat actually bought and 
paid for, it is necessarily immediately influenced by the accu- 
racy of the weights and tests of milk and cream, upon the 
basis of which the amount of the butterfat is calculated. The 
overrun cannot be correct, be it high or low, if the weights and 
tests are not correct. Weights of milk or cream that are in ex- 
cess of the correct weights received and tests higher than the 
correct tests, are bound to lower the overrun and if the error 
is considerable and continuous, it spells ruin to the creamery. 

Where the milk or cream is sampled, weighed and tested 
at the creamery, as is the case with most cooperative cream- 
eries and with creameries operating on the direct shipper sys- 
tem, inaccuracies of this sort are not very frequent and their 



400 The Overrun 

recurrence can be readily avoided. But when the cream is 
w^eighed and sampled on the route wagon, as is the case with 
the cream route system, or where the cream is weighed, sampled 
and tested at the cream station, or where the creamery accepts 
the weights and tests of the independent cream buyer, control 
is far more difficult and the creamery often sufifers great losses 
of butterfat, which compel it to pay for more butterfat 
than it actually received and this in turn is bound to greatly 
depress the overrun. 

If the error in weights and tests is in the other direction, 
if the weights are short of the actual amount of milk or cream 
received and if the recorded tests are lower than correct tests 
would be, then the creamery is receiving more butterfat than 
it is paying for and the overrun is correspondingly high. Ab- 
normally high overruns, therefore, are not infrequently due 
to low weights or low tests, or both. 

Occasional accidental errors in weights and tests may rea- 
sonably be expected. They generally work no great hardship, 
neither on the creamery nor on the farmer, and in the long 
run usually balance each other. 

Persistent and continued inaccuracies, all in one direction, 
on the other hand, suggest either systematic carelessness and 
inefficiency, or intentional wrongdoing. If due to inefficiency, 
then the equipment or the method is at fault, and the overrun 
can only be made to return to what it should be by a systematic 
effort to locate the trouble. 

The route, station or platform scales should be examined 
to make sure that they swing freely, operate correctly, and 
weigh accurately. Scales that "stick" or do not "break" sharply 
are very often the cause of a low overrun, registering more 
milk or cream than the creamery actually received. The milk 
or cream, and especially the cream on the route wagon and at 
the cream station, must be thoroughly mixed before the sample 
is taken. Sudden drops in the overrun in winter are not infre- 
quently due to an unsatisfactory mechanical condition of the 
cream at the time the sample is taken. Frozen cream should 
be treated in accordance with directions given in chapter IV, 
and the cream, after the treatment, should be stirred very 
thoroughly. Under any condition the cream sampler should under- 



The Overrun 401 

stand that the top layer in the cans or in other cream con- 
tainers, is usually richer in butterfat than any other portion of 
the contents. If the sample is simply taken from the top, it 
cannot help containing a higher per cent of fat than the re- 
mainder of the cream, and tests made from such samples are 
bound to be too high and the overrun low. 

In the testing of the milk or cream it should be definitely 
ascertained that the glassware used is correct, that the cream 
test balance has the necessary sensibility and is in satisfactory 
operating condition, and that the weighing, testing and reading 
is done with care and according to standard methods. 

Cream route and cream station shortages of butterfat are 
most always due to improper and careless sampling, causing the 
individual samples to be richer in butterfat than the cream 
from which they are taken. Whether this be due to mere care- 
lessness on the part of the operator, or willful deception, makes 
little difference. Creameries who fail to systematically check 
up the work of their routes and stations, and to hold their 
operators to account for their delinquencies, are doomed to a 
disastrously low overrun. 

Buying cream on the weights and tests of the independent 
buyer is a practice fundamentally wrong. The independent 
buyer is largely interested in selling to the creamery the great- 
est amount of butterfat possible. Therein lies his livelihood 
and his profit. He cannot afiford to sell more butterfat than he 
gets paid for and he is usually looking out for that. Unless he 
masters a strength of character far above the average of his 
profession, he may yield to temptation to the detriment of the 
overrun of the creamery that accepts his weights and tests. The 
creamery cannot afiford to buy butterfat on any basis other than 
that of its own weights and tests. 

High tests and low overrun are likely to occur also in 
creameries that hold their samples for several days before test- 
ing. This is especially the case when the samples are kept in 
loosely sealed jars, or in a warm room, or both. In this case 
the incorrectly high tests are due to evaporation of part of the- 
moisture in the cream sample, increasing the per cent of fat and 
causing a low overrun. It is advisable to test all cream samples 
on the day they are taken or received. All samples should be 



402 The Overrun 

taken and kept in tightly sealed jars, and if they cannot be tested 
promptly, they should be placed in the cold room until needed. 

Mechanical Losses of Fat. — Of the mechanical losses of fat 
in the creamery which materially afifect the overrun, the fat 
lost in the skim milk and the fat lost in the buttermilk are the 
most important. 

Skim Milk. — On the basis of average milk, testing about 4 
per cent fat and of butter containing 80 per cent fat, every one- 
tenth per cent fat lost in the skim milk reduces the overrun by 
about 2.2 per cent. It is obvious, therefore, that whole milk cream- 
eries cannot hope to secure as large an overrun as gathered cream 
creameries. The very marked effect of the small amount of fat 
lost in the skim milk, on the overrun, emphasizes the importance 
of securing the greatest possible skimming efficiency in the 
operation of the factory cream separator, so as to reduce the 
resulting loss to the very minimum. For detailed directions on 
the factors which influence the skimming efficiency of the cream 
separator the reader is referred to Chapter V on the "Separation 
of Milk." 

Buttermilk. — The exhaustiveness of the churning does not 
have so great an effect on the overrun as does the exhaustive- 
ness of skimming, yet it is a factor that must be reckoned with 
in order to secure maximum overrun. With cream testing about 
33 per cent fat and using 10 per cent starter, and with butter 
containing 80 per cent fat. each one-tenth per cent fat lost in 
the buttermilk lowers the overrun approximately .23 per cent. 
It is generally considered that an average buttermilk test of not 
to exceed .2 per cent fat is not excessive on this basis ; the 
sacrifice in overrun that may be expected under fairly normal 
conditions, due to the fat lost in the buttermilk, is about .5 
per cent. 

In a properly operated creamery where the conditions relat- 
ing to exhaustiveness of churning are carefully watched, the but- 
termilk seldom exceeds .2 per cent, and frequently drops below 
.1 per cent. In plants which ignore the importance of the ex- 
haustiveness of churning and which do not systematically check 
it up by testing the buttermilk, it is not uncommon to find the 



The; Overrun 403 

buttermilk to test very high, amounting to from .5 to 1 per cent 
or more, and causing a reduction of the overrun of from 1 to 3 per 
cent or more. 

As it is difficult to correctly determine the per cent fat in 
the buttermilk by the ordinary Babcock test, the results of the 
test often do not show all the fat present in the buttermilk, so 
that the operator may think that he is churning exhaustively 
when in reality he loses much fat. For directions of testing 
buttermilk see Chapter XXII. 

Some of the most important factors which control the ex- 
haustiveness of churning are : Churning temperature, time held 
at churning temperature, richness of cream, condition of cream, 
fulness and speed of churn, size of butter granules when churn is 
stopped, etc. For detailed discussion of these factors the reader 
is referred to Chapter X on "Conditions Influencing the Churn- 
ability of Cream," also Chapter VII on "Neutralization" and 
Chapter VIII on "Pasteurization." 

Other Mechanical Losses Which Tend to Reduce the Over- 
run. — Frequently the low overrun is found to be due to exces- 
sive foaming of the cream in the vats. The cream foam usually 
contains a high per cent of fat. It is flushed out of the vats 
with difiiculty only, and often much of it goes into the sewer. 
Efforts to thoroughly flush this foam out of the vats into the 
churn require excessive amounts of water, usually warm water. 
This in turn dilutes the cream and increases the amount of but- 
termilk, thus augmenting the volume of buttermilk and with it 
the amount of fat lost. The thinning of the cream in itself 
causes a higher per cent of fat in the buttermilk. Furthermore, 
the cream in the churn is thus warmed above the intended churn- 
ing temperature, by the copious rinsing down of the foam with 
warm water, which makes for less exhaustive churning. 

In most cases the excessive foaming of the cream in the vats 
is due to too high a speed of the coils, whipping air into the 
cream. This is especially the case when the vat is not full and 
the coil is only partly covered with the cream. Reducing the 
speed of the coil generally diminishes and often stops the foam- 
ing entirely. The larger the coil the slower should be its speed. 
The proper speed for a 24-inch coil is about 35 to 40 revolutions 
per minute, for a 29-inch coil 28 to 30 revolutions per minute. 



404 The Overrun 

Filling the vat full, so as to submerge the coil, will lessen 
the foaming. Running the coil with the vat cover down min- 
imizes the foaming, the slight pressure thus produced in the 
closed vat helps to keep the foam down. If the cream splashes 
into the vat from a great height, there is more or less foaming. 
A large vat gate assists in carrying off the foam with the cream, 
when the vat is being emptied. 

Additional mechanical losses occur now and then by acci- 
dental spilling of milk and cream, leaks in pumps, pipe lines, 
cream troughs and churn doors, incomplete draining of milk and 
cream cans, pipes and troughs. These losses will greatly vary 
with the degree of carefulness or carelessness of the creamery 
personnel. They represent a useless waste, benefitting no one 
and reducing the overrun. They are avoidable in most cases 
and can be guarded against by efficient supervision. All of these 
precautions play an integral part in the systematic maintenance 
of a satisfactory overrun. 

Accuracy of Moisture Tests. — Since the per cent of moisture 
is a fundamental factor determining the overrun, it is important 
that its determination be correct and reliable. This means care- 
ful sampling of the butter, a sensitive balance and conscientious 
operation of the test. For details of testing butter for moisture 
see Chapter XXII. 

The butter should be tested at the churn and again the 
next morning from the cooler. The churn tests are necessary 
as a guide for the buttermaker, the cooler tests serve as a check 
of the churn tests. The cooler tests are final and become a mat- 
ter of record. 

Accuracy at this point enables the creamery to approach 
the moisture limit permitted, with reasonable certainty of not 
violating- the 16 per cent ruling, and thereby to secure the max- 
imum overrun possible. 

Accuracy of Weights of Butter. — Finally the overrun may 
be very materially affected by the accuracy of the weights of 
butter. In the case of the factory overrun the cubes and tubs 
are weighed prior to packing and again after packing, the dif- 
ference between the tare and the gross weights gives the net 
weight of the butter. Accuracy of weighing is necessary in 
order to insure the correct calculation of the overrun. 



The Overrun 405 

In the case of packing 63-pound tubs, it is customary to 

allow from 4 to 12 ounces for shrinkage. If the net "we-i'ght of 
the butter is say 62 pounds 10 ounces the weight put on the 
tub is 62 pounds. Instead ofweighing the filled tub, the butter 
may be weighed before it reaches the tub and the weighed butter 
is then packed into the tub. In this case only the net weight is 
placed on the tub. The San Francisco Wholesale Dairy Produce 
Exchange issued regulations demanding that standard cubes be 
filled with 69 pounds of butter net and that the cubes be marked 
68 pounds. 

If the butter is printed at the creamery, the accuracy of 
the net weight put into each print is reflected in the office over- 
run. Accuracy here is best secured by passing each print over 
a sensitive butter balance and correcting the weights, if short, 
or over. 

Example of Overrun in Whole-Milk Creamery. 

10,000 lbs. of 4% milk are received. 
32% cream is separated. 
. Skim milk tests .1% fat. 
10% starter is added. 
Buttermilk tests .2% fat. 
Butter contains 80% fat. 
How much butter is made? • 
What is the overrun? What is the per cent overrun? 

Answer. — 

7-. . f ■ 1 • -,1 4 X 10000 ' inn 11 r 
Butterfat contamed in milk, r-f-r = 4U(J ll)s. fat. 

n .A i -n 4X lOOOQ ^^-_, „ 

Cream separated from milk, ry— — = 12h(J lbs. cream. 

Skim milk separated from milk. 10000—1250 = 8750 lbs. 
skim milk. 

1- , • , • -1, -1 X 8750 0-- 11 r . 

tat lost in skim milk, r-rjr = 8./o Ibs; fat. 

lUU 

Fat remaining in cream, 400 — 8.75 == 391.25 lbs. fat. 

J J J 10 X 1250 ,^_ „ 

Starter added to cream, tt:-^ — 12.-' lbs. starter. 

1 UO 

Total pounds of cream churned. 1250 + 125 =: 1375 lbs. 

cream. . - '■ ■ ' 



406 The Overrun 

Approximate pounds of buttermilk made, 1375 — 391 =984 

lbs. buttermilk. 

2 X 984 
Fat lost in buttermilk, ^ — = 1.97 lbs. fat. 

Fat left for butter. 391.25 — 1.97 = 389.28 lbs. fat. 

, 100 X 389.28 ,„ , ... . ^^ 
Butter made, ^^ — 486.6 lbs. butter. 

Overrun, 486.6 — 400 = 86.6 lbs. overrun. 

86.6X100 ^, .-^ 
Per cent overrun, j^ = 21.6>->% overrun. 

In the above example the mechanical losses on the 400 lbs. of 
fat were 8.75 + 1.97= 10.72 lbs. of fat, the per cent loss was 

lu./^ A i^ _ 2 58 per cent of the total fat received. Addmg to 

400 
these losses, the probable fat lost in the form of milk and cream 
spilled and retained in the pipes, etc., the total mechanical loss of fat 
may be placed at from 3 to 3.5 per cent of the total fat received. In 
whole milk creameries a loss of 3 to 3.5 per cent of the total fat re- 
ceived is generally accepted as a fair average loss under normal con- 
ditions of operation, though this loss can be considerably reduced by 
better organization and greater efficiency of operation. 

If there were no compensating factors, such as undeterminable 
unrecognized fractions of weights and tests of milk, which, in an effi- 
ciently operated creamery are bound to function in favor of the 
creamery, the per cent overrun would be as follows : 

125 V 3 
Loss of 3% of total fat received = 25 :—— = 21.25% 

overrun. 

12S V 3 S 
Loss of 3.5% of total fat received = 25 1^"^ = 20.625% 

overrun. 

Example of Overrun in Farm Separator Cream Creamery. 

2000 lbs. of 33% cream are received. 

10% starter are added. 

Buttermilk tests .2 per cent fat. 

Butter contains 80 per cent fat. 

How much butter is made? 

What is the overrun? What is the per cent overrun? 



Thk Overrun 407 

Answer. — 

Fat ill 2000 lbs. of cream, ^^^^ — = 660 lbs. fat. 

2000 X 10 ^^^ ,, , , 
Starter added to cream, rrr^r = 200 lbs. starter. 

Total pounds of cream churned, 2000 + 200 = 2200 lbs. cream. 
Buttermilk produced, 2200 — 660 = 1540 lbs. buttermilk. 

2 V 1540 
Fat in buttermilk, '^ ^qq = 3.08 lbs. fat. 

Fat left for butter, 660 — 3.08 = 656.92 lbs. fat. 

J 100 X 656.92 001 1 iu u .. 

Butter made, ^^ = 821.1 lbs. butter. 

oU 

Overrun made, 821.1 — 660:= 161.1 lbs. overrun. 

161.1 X 100 ^. .,„ 

Per cent overrun, ^^tt = 24.41% overrun. 

66U 

, r , r 3.08 X 100 , ,-^ , , 

Per cent loss of total fat, ^zk = .467% fat. 

660 

Adding to this loss, the probable fat lost in the form of cream 
spilled and retained in the pipes, etc., the total mechanical loss of fat 
may be placed at approximately 1 per cent of the total fat received. 
In farm separator cream creameries a loss of 1 per cent of the total 
fat purchased is generally accepted as a fair average loss under nor- 
mal conditions of operation, though this loss can be considerably re- 
duced by improved organization and greater efificiency of operation. 

If there were no compensating factors, such as undeterminable 
and unrecognized fractions of weights and tests of cream, which, 
in an efficiently operated creamery are bound to function in favor 
of the creamery, the per cent overrun would be as follows : 

Loss of 1% of total fat received yields 25 :r^ — = 

23.75% overrun. 

Unavoidable Discrepancies in Weights and Tests that affect 
the Overrun. — The foregoing examples of actual overrun dififer 
from the calculations of the theoretical overrun, in that they make 
allowance for the mechanical losses of fat in the process of manu- 
facture. But, similar as in the case of the theoretical overrun they 
are based on the assumption that the pounds of fat received and 
paid for. are determined with mathematical accuracy that yields 
absolutely correct results. They make no allowance in the weigh- 



408 The Overrun 

ing of milk and cream for the fractions of pounds that fall be- 
tween the smallest graduations on the beam of the scales ; they 
provide no tolerance in the testing" of milk and cream for fractions 
of the per cent of fat that fall between the smallest graduations 
on the neck of the test bottle ;and furthermore, they assume, in 
the calculation of the money due the farmer, that all fractions of 
pounds of butterfat, even those of the last decimal are included, 
making no allowance for the dropping of any fractions. 

But in practical operation these details do exist, and contrary to 
the general impression, their occurrence very vitally aflfects the 
actual overrun. 

It is not often that either the empty or the full can weighs 
exactly to whole or half pounds. In the majority of cases the exact 
weight is somewhere between the whole and half pound and the 
operator has to choose between dropping the undeterminable and 
unrecognized fraction or calling that fraction one whole or one- 
half pound. 

Similar limitations of accuracy occur in the testing of milk and 
cream, and particularly in the case of cream. The smallest division 
marks on the neck of the standard cream test bottle record one-half 
per cent and the distance between the graduation marks is very 
minute, about one thirty-seventh of one inch, making it impractica- 
ble, if not impossible, to deterriiine and record fractions of less than 
one-half per cent, and occasionally difficult to even distinguish one- 
half per cent. 

But (Tiitite often the length' of the fat column fails to exactly 
coincide with the whole per cent or the half per cent marks and the 
tester has to choose between dropping the uncertain, undeterminable 
and unrecognized -fraction, reading to the next lower line, or calling 
that fraction a whole or a half per cent. 

Finally, the pounds of butterfat, as calculated from the pounds 
of creani and the fat test, often represent an amount with three to 
four decimals; rendering the computation of the -money due the 
farmer complicated, time-consuming, uneconomical and inviting 
errors in the results; This has led to the practice on the part of the 
creamerie's, of dropping some of these fractions, usually including 
those of the second decimal. 

These unreadable and unrecognized fractions in the weights and 
tests of cream have, in the past, failed to be considered in the treat- 



The Ovj^rrun 409 

meat of the subject of the overrun. They are a fact, however, 
which the creamery has to deal with. It has no choice in the matter, 
and collectively they do affect the overrun to a very marked degree 
in one direction or the other, and to a degree that has not been fully 
recognized by the industry in the past. 

Since business cannot be conducted successfully by paying for 
more than is actually received, the creamery cannot pay for butter- 
fat it does not receive and no efficiently operated creamery would 
tolerate such transactions. Every loyal creamery operator will 
record only as much weight of cream and as nmch fat in the test as 
the cream scales and the Babcock Test actually show. And if the 
exact weight and the exact test involve fractions which cannot be 
determined by the standard equipment, and which are not recog- 
nized, he ignores these fractions. . : ; 

A similar practice is in vogue the country oVer in the purchase 
of butter and other farm produce. When butter is sold to the pro- 
duce trade on the open market, the buyer makes remittance for 
whole pounds only. The butter buyer does not recognize fractions 
of pounds, nor even half pounds, and he often insists on the scale 
beam touching the top when weighing. If a tub of butter weighs 
63 pounds and 15 ounces, the creamery selling this butter would be 
entitled to and would receive pay for 63 pounds only. This is an 
established custom, recognized and accepted by the industry, not- 
withstanding the objections which have been raised against it 
recently. 

When the creamery recognizes, records and pays for half 
pounds of cream and half per cents of the test, and this should be 
the practice in every creamery, it is paying the farmer more nearly 
for the exact amount of the product it receives than is the estab- 
lished custom of buying butter and other farm produce. It cannot, 
as an efificiently conducted business, pay for more than it actually 
receives, hence it must receive the benefit of the doubt in all cases 
of unavoidable and unreadable fractions of pounds of cream and 
of per cent fat in the test. 

It may be argued that equity demands the payment for butterf at 
on the basis of a "give and take" system as far as these unreadable 
fractions of weights and tests is concerned, in which case fractions 
of over one-fourth pound and over three-fourths pound of crearti 
would be recorded as half pounds and whole pounds respectively, 



410 The Overrun 

and all fractions of over one-quarter and three-quarters per cent in 
the test would be recorded as half per cents and as whole per cents 
respectively, while all fractions below the quarter and below the 
three-quarter pounds and per cents would be ignored. By this sys- 
tem of "give and take," it is claimed by some, these unreadable frac- 
tions would be taken care of equitably, both to the farmer and to 
the creamery. 

From the standpoint of absolute correctness, this system would 
be more nearly ideal, but it is impracticable in commercial operation. 
It is too complicated and confusing to be adaptable to the routine of 
creamery operation ; in fact, it is not done. The unreadable frac- 
tions are either not recognized, or they are recorded as half or whole 
pounds and per cents respectively. There can be no double method, 
and since long established custom of the industry accepts, and busi- 
ness competition demands, the ignoring of the unreadable fractions, 
these fractions are, in fact, ignored. 

The gains in overrun which these unreadable and unrecognized 
fractions effect will naturally vary. Under average conditions they 
may amount to about 2 to 4%. In creameries in which the general 
standard of efficiency is low, these gains are more than offset by the 
mechanical losses. In creameries which maintain a high standard 
of efficiency, reducing the mechanical losses to the minimum, these 
gains very appreciably exceed the mechanical losses and result in the 
production of an overrun slig4itly higher than the maximum 
overrun possible on the basis of the calculations of the theo- 
retical overrun. 

Other conditions being the same, the increase in the overrun 
due to the unrecognized fractions varies largely with the amount 
and richness of each individual shipment of cream ; the smaller the 
amount of fat contained in each individual shipment of cream, the 
greater must necessarily be the effect of the undeterminable and 
unrecognized fractions on the overrun. Hence these gains actually 
amount to more in the case of creameries whose individual ship- 
pers, ship largely only in 5-gallon cans than in the case of cream- 
eries that receive most of their shipments in 8 and 10-gallon cans. 

The following arbitrary example may serve to illustrate the 
influence of the unrecognized fractions of weights and tests of 
cream and of the resulting fat calculations on the overrun: 



The Overrun 411 

Example. — 

Gains, in weighing empty cans and fuU cans. 

5-gallon empty can weighs 12.75 lbs., marked 13 lbs. ; 
gain is 25 lbs. 

5-gallon full can weighs 51.75 lbs., marked 51.5 lbs.; 
gain is 25 lbs. 

Gain of cream 50 lbs. 

Net weight of cream recorded is, 51.5 — 13 = 38.5 lbs. 

Cream tests 33 per cent fat. 

Fat in 38.5 lbs. of 2>2>7c cream, ^'^ ^J,^'^ 12.705 lbs. fat. 

2,2, X .5 
Fat in .5 lbs. of 2)3'/^ cream, ^p^ = -16 lbs. fat. 

iUU 

For each 100 lbs. fat, gain in fat is, ' X 100= 1.259 lbs. 
fat. 

Gain in testing cream. 

Assuming that the fat column measures between 2>2) and 33.5%, 
say 33.25 '/(, the test is read at ^^'Yc mark. 

For each 100 lbs. of cream the gain is .25 lbs. fat. 

25 X 38 5 

For 38.5 lbs. of cream the gain is, ^-^ = .09625 lbs. fat. 

IUU 

For each 100 lbs. of fat the gain is, ^^^J^^= -758 lbs. fat. 
Gain in calculation of butterfat. 

Second decimal is dropped. 

In case of 12.705 lbs. of fat .005 lbs. fat are gained. 

For each 100 lbs. of fat the gain '^^^ '^\^jI^ = -0394 lbs. fat. 
Summary of Gains. 

Gains on weights of cream 1.259 lbs. fat 

Gains on tests of cream 758 lbs. fat 

Gains on calculations of fat .039 lbs. fat 

Total gains per 100 lbs. fat received 2.056 lbs. fat 

Total losses (see example of actual overrun in farm 

separator cream creamery) 1.000 lbs. fat 

Net gains 1.056 lbs. fat 

Possible overrun. 

Butter contains 80% fat 

100 
100 lbs. fat make, — oq-X 100 125 lbs. butter 

Less fat 100 lb s. 

Overrun 25% 

^ . . , , e . 125 X 1.056 , ,^„ 

Gam m overrun due to losses & gams, ^^r^ = l.oZyc 

IUU 

Total possible overrun 26.32% 



412 Marketing of Butter 

The above. example is suggestive of the possibilities and limi- 
tations of the actual overrun. Its purpose is not, to indicate what 
the overrun should be, but to invite the consideration of the overrun 
from every angle that influences it. This example does not repre- 
sent any specific case, nor do the gains shown represent maximum 
possible gains. On the contrary, the unrecognized fractions re- 
corded here are small, they might in actual operation at times be 
considerably larger, in which case the increase in the overrun would 
be correspondingly greater. But this example does show that, pro- 
vided that the creamery operates on a high standard of efficiency, it 
is quite possible for the overrun to be slightly above the maximum 
of the theoretical overrun which, with butter containing 80%' fat, 
is 25%. 

In short, the subject of overrun can be consistently considered 
only in terms of efficiency and it is through efficiency only that any 
creamery can hope to regulate the overrun. The creamery that 
expects to reliably regulate its overrun must aim at maximum effi- 
ciency in those many details that so vitally afifect the overrun ; effi- 
ciency that makes for exhaustiveness of churning and minimum 
mechanical losses on the one hand, and correct weighing and testing 
of cream and butter on the other ; efficiency that means the recdrd- 
ing of every fraction of a pound of cream and every fraction of a 
per cent of fat in the test, that the standard equipment for weighing 
and testing enables' the operator to determine. This, practical ex- 
perience and careful experimental study have shown to result in 
an overrun, in which the unavoidable mechanical losses are 
largely, or wholly, or occasionally even slightly more than 
wholly ofifset by such gains as may accumulate from the un- 
determinable and unrecognized fractions in weights and tests. 

Chapter XIV. 
MARKETS AND MARKETING OF BUTTER 

Importance. — At best the success of all business ultimately 
depends on its ability to dispose of its products at a satisfactory- 
margin. Successful marketing is an open secret in all lines of 
business success and the butter business is no exception to this 
rule. Notwithstanding this fact, the market end of the butter 
business is a department not infrequently much neglected and 
often least understood by many producers and manufacturers 



Marketing of Butter 413 

of butter and causing annually vast sacrifices in the form of un- 
satisfactory returns to the farmers and creameries of this coun- 
try. 

Essentials in Successful Marketing of Butter. Quality. — 
Quality is the first and all fundamental requisite for successful 
marketing. Butter must be of such quality that there is a de- 
mand for it. The consumer is the final judge of quality. The 
importance of quality is summarized most admirably in an ad- 
dress on Butter Markets by Mr. N. J. Eschenbrenner^ of the 
firm of Gude Bros. & Kiefifer of New York City before the Dairy 
students of Cornell University April, 1916, as follows: "In 
summing up the whole proposition of marketing butter, it is 
wholly a matter of quality. When good butter is competing 
against poorer grades, when high flavored, clean butter is com- 
peting against unclean flavors, when solid, waxy-bodied butter 
is competing against weak-bodied, when desirable color, salt 
and style is competing against undesirable color, salt and style 
and general workmanship, on a basis of price and distribution, 
the better grades get the preference over the poorer grades and 
the poorer grades are absorbed only after satisfactory conces- 
sion has been made in price." 

While it is true that at times of butter shortage, when the 
demand exceeds the supply and the market is very brisk, the 
difference in price between different grades of butter is relatively 
small, because the average consumer is willing to "put-up" tem- 
porarily with lower grades in preference to going without but- 
ter, in the long run quality asserts itself. Under normal market 
conditions and when the supply is equal to, or greater than the 
demand, it is the lower grades that suffer. On quality depends 
the stability and permanency of our butter markets, quality con- 
trols the consumptive demand of the public, quality determines 
our ability to successfully meet competition with butter substi- 
tutes from within, and with ini])orted butter from without our 
country, quality is* the key to the establishment of satisfactory 
export markets abroad that will take care of our surplus at 
home, quality decides onr ability to pay the farmer, on whose 
success the prosperity of the entire dairy industry depends, 
prices sufficiently attractive to induce him to keep on feeding 



1 Eschenbrenner — Address on Butter-Markets, New York Produce Review 
Am. Creamery, April, 1916. 



414 Marketing of Butter 

and milking the dairy cow, and to interest himself in better 
cows, better methods, larger production and greater returns that 
make for increased prosperity of the producer and his family 
and better education for his children. 

Knowledge of Requirements of Different Markets. — The 

average consumer wants good butter, not always fancy butter, 
but butter of clean flavor, firm body, even color and medium 
salt. While butter of the best quality brings the highest price 
in most markets, there is a vast difference in the demands of 
the consumers in different markets of the country and in dif- 
ferent sections of the same market. Hence all wholesalers, 
commission men and jobbers do not cater to the same class of 
trade. 

There is a class of consumers who demand extra fine but- 
ter and are willing to pay a premium for it. The trade in many 
sections of the eastern markets is particularly critical. With 
this class of trade nothing but the best quality will do and lower 
grades are not desired. 

But there is also another class which considers price rather 
than quality and which is satisfied with butter that is of fair 
quality. While the creamery should concentrate its efforts on 
securing the best possible quality of cream, and on making the 
best quality of butter from it, under the notv prevailing system 
of receiving cream in many sections of the country and particu- 
larly in the central west, it is impossible for many creameries 
to economically produce butter that grades above "extras," and 
extreme efforts to improve the quality in order to satisfy the 
most critical trade under such conditions would tend to prove 
disadvantageous to the financial success of the creamery, the 
difference in price received for the butter not being sufficient to 
offset the increased expense of operation and the possible falling- 
off of the cream supply. The quality of the butter which the 
creamery can afford to produce under these and similar circum- 
stances will depend upon the class of trade it must supply. 

The creamery that has developed a local trade, that is able 
to sell its butter 24 to 48 hours after manufacture and that dis- 
tributes it in small quantities, so that the butter is consumed 
within one week or less of the time of manufacture, may secure 
top prices for an 89 to 91 point butter by selecting those stores 



Markkting op Buttp:r 415 

that do not supply a highly critical trade. In trade of this kind 
many of the customers buy butter largely by the brand, they 
believe in the brand and if the butter is fairly uniform in quality 
they are satisfied. Similar markets may be located in the whole- 
sale trade of the large consuming centers for the surplus butter. 
There are wholesale dealers in these markets whose specialty lies 
in catering to the less critical trade and who therefore are in 
a position to dispose of the creamery shipments of butter of 
only fair quality to good advantage. It is to the creamery's 
interest to study the dififerent channels through which the grade 
of butter which it produces will net the highest price. 

There are times when it is exceedingly difficult for the 
creamery to secure a satisfactory price on the wholesale market. 
During the early summer months when the principal demand in 
the larger markets is for butter for storage purposes, butter is 
bought strictly on the (|uality basis and sour-cream butter is 
not in demand, except that from creameries which have estab- 
lished a reputation of knowing how to handle such cream and 
how to manufacture from it a product of dependable keeping 
quality. Then again, in August and September, when the jobbers 
are loaded with May and June butter of good quality, and 
which they bought at low prices, the fresh midsummer butter 
is usually of poorer quality than the May and June butter placed 
in storage, the demand for it is very limited and its sales are 
often possible only by offering it at prices below those paid for 
the early summer butter. At the same time midsummer prices 
of butterfat paid by the creamery are generally higher than 
prices paid to the farmers for May and June butterfat. This 
combination of conditions therefore is prone to yield returns un- 
satisfactory to the creamery. The advantage to the creamery 
of having direct connection with consumptive channels of dis- 
tribution, such as local and neighborhood retail stores, is obvious, 
and the creamery should aim, during unfavorable periods of the 
wholesale trade in the larger markets, to move its lower grades 
through these local channels. 

The creamery which grades its cream and churns the grades 
separately may succeed in satisfying its more critical trade with 
the butter from the first grade cream. The butter from the 
second grade cream mav be sold to bakeries and confectioners 



416 Marki^ting of Butter 

but it is often preferable to sell the second grade butter under 
a special brand reserved for that class of butter only ; frequently 
it is possible to establish a satisfactory trade with acceptable 
returns with this special brand. Another, often very desirable 
outlet for the second grade cream is to manufacture it into un- 
salted butter and sell it to the Jewish trade, ice cream factories 
and bakeries. 

It is obvious from the above discussion that, while quality 
is supreme, the sucessful marketing- of butter requires careful 
investigation and study on the part of the creamery, of the vari- 
ous market demands, and of the channels of trade by which these 
demands may best be supplied. The creamery must find and 
supply that class of trade which has the greatest demand for its 
butter. 

Uniformity of Quality. — Having succeeded in finding the 
most advantageous channels into which to divert the butter, it 
is very important that the creamery be able to hold these mar- 
kets, and success at this point in turn will largely depend on the 
maintenance of uniformity of quantity and quality. The prob- 
lem of maintaining the quantity of the supply will be discussed 
under the heading .of "Selling Creamery Butter Locally." 

Uniformity of quality is an inevitable demand which the 
consumer exacts. In fact it is paramount in importance to qual- 
ity itself. The public demands butter that is uniform in flavor, 
salt, color and workmanship. Lack of uniformity makes the 
consumer suspicious and dissatisfied. He feels that he cannot 
depend on the product. Large creameries, who are in a position 
to grade their butter closely, whose churnings do not vary in 
size and whose process of manufacture is carefully standardized, 
find little difficulty to supply the class of trade which they cater 
to, with butter of fairly constant uniformity. Small creameries. 
with their irregular churnings and often inadequate equipment 
and system of manufacture, are not so fortunate in this respect. 
This handicap is responsible for the frequent loss of an other- 
wise satisfactory local trade and for their difficulty in securing 
satisfactory returns from the wholesale and commission mar- 
kets. 



Marketing of Butter 417 

Standardizing Quality, Transportation and Distribution.— 

In an effort to overcome this handicap, creameries located in 
certain sections of the country have united into county and dis- 
trict associations. The purpose of these cooperative organiza- 
tions is to improve and standardize the quality and uniformity 
of their product. They employ a competent inspector whose 
duty it is to standardize their methods of manufacture and to 
inspect and grade their butter. 

Some creameries have gone one step farther in their co- 
operative eft'ort, shippin<4" cooperatively in carload lots and 
standardizing their methods of selling and marketing their 
product through the same distributing agency. 

The output of the individual small creamery is too small* 
to ship in carload lots. The average small creamery has to hold 
its butter for a week or longer before it can ship to advantage 
and even then it is often difficult for the small creamery to se- 
cure refrigerator service. The holding of the butter at the cream- 
ery with the usual inadequate facilities for keeping it cool, and 
the lack of refrigeration in transit, often cause the butter to ar- 
rive at the market in deteriorated condition resulting in low 
returns. Through intelligent cooperation numerous small cream- 
eries located in fairly close proximity and situated on the same 
railway line are often able to fill a car once or twice per week 
and thus are in a position to secure prompt refrigerator service 
and at reasonably low cost, so that at a reduced expense they 
are in a position to place their butter on the market fresher and 
in better condition. 

The standardization of methods of selling, is another step 
in the right direction, which is entirely practical with proper co- 
operation of a sufficient number of creameries and efficient lead- 
ership. In some instances these cooperative efforts have re- 
sulted in the establishment and adoption of an association stamp 
or trade mark. In some states, viz., Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa 
and Wisconsin, with the assistance of their respective State 
dairy commissioners, the creameries have established State 
brands. 

Marketing Dairy Butter, — Dairy butter, or butter made on 
the farm, is sold either direct to the consumer, to private resi- 
dences, hotels, restaurants, boarding houses, clubs, etc., who 



418 Marketing of Buttkr 

pay for it in weekly or monthly cash payments, or it is sold to 
the local country store which generally pays the farmer in trade 
and not in cash. The great bulk of dairy butter goes to the 
country store. This is a most primitive method of marketing 
butter which results, in the great majority of cases, to the dis- 
advantage of the dairyman. 

Selling Creamery Butter Locally. — Generally speaking the 
best markets are those nearest home. Selling butter locally, either 
to the direct consumer at the door of the creamery, by going 
direct to residences, through public or municipal markets, by 
parcel post, or selling to local stores, or shipping direct to retail 
stores in neighboring towns and cities, has many and distinct ad- 
vantages. It enables the creamery to reduce the number of middle- 
men to the minimum or to do without them entirely, thereby 
netting the creamery the consumer's or retailer's price. It saves 
transportation charges to distant points, which may amount to 
from 1 to 2 cents or more per pound of butter. It protects the 
butter against conditions unfavorable to its quality in transit and 
reduces the interval between manufacture and consumption, 
thereby enabling the creamery to supply the consumer with butter 
of better quality and demanding a better price. It gives the cream- 
ery a better opportunity to put u\) its butter in the final ])ack- 
age, the print, and under its own brand, thereby establishing 
a constant trade for its own butter and usually at satisfactory 
prices. It protects the creamery against loss by shrinkage. 

In some instances creameries have succeeded in disposing 
of part of their regular output through what is known as the 
club-buying system. Cluljs whose members are consumers 
are organized by a local individual in his community. He 
buys butter regularly and usually in sufficiently large quantity 
per shipment, to supply all the members of his club. This is 
a very effective system of reaching the consumer in distant 
markets direct, but the amount of butter that the creamery 
can dispose of through this channel is naturally limited. 

The chief difficulty encountered by the average small cream- 
ery in establishing and holding local markets lies in the irregu- 
larity of the amount of its output throughout the year and the 
fluctuations in the demand and supply of local markets. 



Marketing of Butter 419 

If the creamery establishes a local market for all of its out- 
put during the flush of the season, it invariably is confronted 
with the difficulty of supplying that market during the time of 
shortage, or if the local market takes care only of the output 
(luring the time of shortage, then in summer, during the heavy 
make, there is a surplus of butter which must be disposed of on 
the open market. This surplus is usually increased by the 
fact that during the early summer months, when butter fat 
prices are relatively low, considerable cream is churned on the 
farms and the creamery has to compete against country butter, 
which is usually offered for sale at prices below creamery 
butter. At the same time also the consumption of butter in the 
local markets generally reaches eblj-tide. partly because of a 
reduction of butter consumption per capita during the hot 
weather and partly because many of the consumers leave for 
cooler climes. 

In order to equalize these fluctuating conditions of sup- 
ply and demand some creameries are buying butter on the open 
market during the time of shortage to take care of their trade, 
while others store some of their surplus during the time of flush. 
In the buying of butter to offset the shortage of output, the 
greatest care should be exercised that the quality of the 
butter i>urchased is equal to that of the regular make. The 
creamery should also make sure that it complies with the laws 
of the state concerning the labeling of such butter. In many 
states the law prohibits the sale of butter under the creamery's 
private brand, unless the brand plainly indicates that the but- 
ter was not made by that creamery. Instead of stating that 
the butter is made by the respective creamery, the wrapper 
should state that the butter is packed and distributed by the 
respective creamery. 

The storing of butter in the creamery, in order to take 
care of its surplus and to hold it over for the time of shortage, 
is usually not a practical proposition in the case of the small 
creamery with limited cold storage facilities. Unless butter 
can be kept at a uniform temperature of Zero degrees Fahren- 
heit or below it will, under average conditions, depreciate 
in value to the extent to where it can no longer be sold to the 
regular trade. If the butter is made from a good quality of 



420 Marke;ting of Butter 

cream it is best stored in a commercial cold storage plant. If 
it is made from a poor quality of cream, its storage is a risky 
adventure under any condition. Furthermore, the storing of 
butter involves the "tying-up" of operating capital which is 
often beyond the financial resources of the small creamery. 

Experience has shown that under average conditions of the 
small creamery, it is safer to dispose of its surplus as soon as 
possible after making. If the creamery exercises due caution 
and foresight in making the proper arrangements for the dispo- 
sition of its surplus on the open market, there is no need of seri- 
ous loss and it should at least break even with its surplus, pro- 
vided that the butter is of a quality acceptable to the market 
where it is sold. 

Furthermore, November 1, 1917, by Proclamation of the 
President of the United States, Federal Rules and Regulations 
went into effect providing that butter, and other food products 
held in cold storage longer than 30 days shall be marked, either 
on the butter itself, or on the container, with the words "Cold 
Storage" and shall be sold as cold storage goods. Similar regula- 
tions have also become state laws in several of the States. While 
this ruling, which is a War measure, remains in efifect, the 
creamery may find considerable difficulty to satisfy its trade dur- 
ing the period of shortage with butter placed into cold storage 
during the time of flush. June butter, made from butterfat that is 
produced by the cows during the prime of their lactation period 
and that are feeding on nature's choicest feed, succulent pas- 
ture grass, is acknowledged to be superior in flavor. If man- 
ufactured in the proper manner, it generally is of fully as good 
quality when it comes out of storage as fresh winter butter 
which is made largely from the milk of stripper cows and cows 
receiving dry feed. In fact, it often is of a quality distinctly 
superior to the fresh winter butter. From the standpoint of 
quality, therefore, cold storage butter may be fully as desirable 
and appetizing as fresh winter butter, but the fact that the pack- 
age bears the words cold storage, makes it less attractive to the 
average consumer, it arouses his suspicion that he is getting an 
inferior article. For this reason, under the cold storage ruling, 
the creamery may experience serious obstacles in its efforts 



Marketing of Butter 421 

to take care of its regular trade during the time of shortage 
of fresh butter, by offering- it cold storage gdcnls in the place of 
fresh butter. 

The large centralized creameries obviously have the ad- 
vantage in disposing of their output direct to the retailer. Their 

(Uitpnt is large enough, so that they can afford to establish distri- 
buting offices in the large markets. Through these distributir.g 
offices they are able to reach the retailer in distant consuming 
centers in a similar way as in the local and home markets. These 
distributing offices also serve as a channel through which the 
trend of the market may be accurately followed, and through 
which that class of trade may be located that has the greatest 
demand for the quality of butter the creamery produces. 

Selling butter to the wholesale produce trade. — The dis- 
tribution of vast quantities of the butter made, is taken care 
of by an organization of middlemen intermediary between the 
shipper and the city retail stores. This organization is known 
as the wholesale trade. The wholesale produce trade occupies an 
important position in sup])lying the shipper with a market for his 
product and in regulating the quantity and quality of the 
supply of the retail store, in reducing the cost of transporta- 
tion by making possible shipments in large units, in maintaining 
the necessary business relations with the retail stores for or 
in the place of the shipper, and in making possible prompt pay- 
ments so as to enable the shipper to pay the farmer for his 
cream without delay. In otlier words, the wholesale produce trade 
performs that function which the shipper — the creamery — with- 
out branch offices in the distant city markets, is unable to ac- 
complish. It acts as a clearing house for the shipper and re- 
tailer alike. Its proximity to the distributing channels enables 
it to feel the pulse of the market in its and other cities and to 
regulate the influx and movement of the various grades of but- 
ter and other commodities on the market. 

The organization of the wholesale produce trade is established 
in all cities of appreciable size. According to Weld,' "a city i*-- 
large enough to require a separate wholesale trade organization 
when it can handle goods in car lots for consumption in the city 



1 Weld, The Marketing of Farm Products, p. 67, 19X6, 



422 Marke;ting of Buttkr 

or for redistribution in nearby towns." The wholesale produce 
trade is always localized in a certain district of the city. Thus 
in Chicago, South Water Street represents the wholesale produce 
district for that city. 

The wholesale dealers may be divided into two classes, to 
each of which are attributed certain, more or less definitely 
defined functions, namely the middlemen who receive goods direct 
from the shipper and the middlemen who buy direct from the re- 
ceivers and sell to the retail stores or other outlets. 

To the first class belong the wholesale receiver, the com- 
mission man and the broker. The wholesale receiver buys the 
butter outright and pays the shipper for it upon receipt. He 
sells the butter to the retail store and also to the jobber. The 
commission man does not buy the butter, he does not become 
owner of it, but acts as an agent for the shipper, selling it for 
him to retail stores, hotels, restaurants, and other outlets and 
deducting from the gross receipts a commission for his ser- 
vices, together with freight and cartage charges. The rate of 
commission usually charged to the butter shipper is 5 per cent 
of the gross receipts. The broker operates on a similar plan 
as the commission man, but he usually handles goods in larger 
quantities and charges a lower rate of commission. 

To the second class, the middleman who buys from the 
wholesale receiver and not direct from the shipper, belongs the 
jobber. He also sells to the retail trade. 

These middlemen have their organization of solicitors who 
look after the retail trade and other outlets in their city as well 
as in other cities. 

Most of the butter shipped to the wholesale trade is de- 
sired in bulk packages, usually 60 pound tubs or 50 pound 
boxes for Eastern markets and 68 pcnind cubes for the Pacific 
coast markets. In exceptional cases the shippers put their butter 
up in the finished package, the print. Most of the wholesale 
receivers have a brand of their own, on which they have es- 
tablished some fancy trade, and for which they print fancy 
butter and sell it under their own carton. 

Methods of Sales. — Butter shipped to the wholesale trade 
is sold according to any one of the following four methods : 



MarkRtino of Butter 4^3 

1. Track Sales. — By 'track sale is understood F, O. B. (free 
on board) shipping point. By this method the responsibility of 
the shipper ceases when the butter is placed on the car, or on 
ship board, at the shipping point. The buyer pays the freight, 
cartage, assumes the risk of transportation and the price is 
definitely fixed. From the shipper's, or creamery's point of 
view this is the most advantageous method of selling butter 
to the wholesale trade. In order to sell butter under this agree- 
ment the creamery must previously satisfy the receiver of the 
uniformity of quality, workmanship, composition and color of 
butter the creamery is capable of supplying. This is usually done 
by trial shipments. The receiver agrees to pay a definite price, 
based on market quotations of the leading markets F. O. B. 
track The creamery knows exactly what it is going to get 
for its butter at the time the butter is shipped and payments 
are made upon arrival of the goods at the market. 

2. Delivered Sales, or F. O. B. Market. — In this method 
of sale the shipper's responsibility ceases when the butter has 
reached the market of the buyer. The shipper pays the freight, 
cartage, and assumes the risk of transportation. The price de- 
pends on market prices on the date of arrival of the goods at 
the market. Agreements to buy butter on the above basis are 
usually also entered into upon receipt of trial shipments rep- 
resentative of the quality of the average run of butter nian- 
ufjactured by the contracting creamery. While not as ad- 
vantageous to the creamery as method No. 1, because the 
price is determined at the market end and because the shipper 
has to pay the freight and assumes the risk of transportation, 
this method is by far ])referable to the commission sales. Both, 
in method 1 and in method 2, the butter sells at prices based 
on market quotations. It is important that prices should not 
be based on the score of the butter. According to methods 1 and 
2 the buyer agrees to pay the price stipulated on the basis of 
market quotations, as long as he is willing to accept the butter. 
Should the butter of some shipments not measure up in quality 
to the trial samples, the buyer will still pay the price agreed 
upon, but will notify the creamery of the defect, so it may be 
remedied promptly. In case the quality continues to be inferior 



424 Marketing of Butter 

to that of the trial shipments, the buyer may ask the creamery 
to find another outlet for its butter, or else negotiate another 
agreement satisfactory to both parties. 

3. Commission Sales. — The shipper pays the freight and 
cartage, assumes the risk of transportation and the commission 
man acts as an agent to sell the butter for which service he 
charges the shipper a commission, usually of 5 per cent, of the 
gross receipts. This method places the shipper at the mercy of 
the commission man, it deprives him of all control over the re- 
turns from his butter and it is a method which generally proves 
very unsatisfactory and costly to the creamery. 

While there are many reliable and trustworthy men in the 
commission business, the temptations which surround the com- 
mission man to abuse his power at the expense of the shipper are 
very great, and are finding many a vulnerable spot among their 
members. Most commission men not only act as agents for the 
shippers, but usually do also a receiver's business. On an ad- 
vancing market they are encouraged to buy outright, while on 
a declining market they are prone to adhere to the commission 
business exclusively. Not infrequently they charge the shipper 
a commission on goods they purchase outright and thus receive 
a commission on their own purchase. The creamery has no 
guarantee that the returns reported represent the price at which 
the butter actually sold. A business that offers such unlimited 
opportunities for illegitimate gain at the expense of the power- 
less shipper, naturally attracts an element that is no credit to the 
profession and that jeopardizes the welfare of the shipper. 

4. Contract Sales.^ — By contract sales is meant the method 
whereby the shipper enters into a contract with the dealer agree- 
ing to deliver a certain number of pounds of butter per week at 
a price based on market quotations. The contracts are usually 
short-term agreements and are largely, tliough not always, con- 
fined to the storage season. Contract sales are usually taken 
advantage of by large creameries. Small creameries with a lim- 
ited and often uncertain output are seldom in a position to ne- 
gotiate such sales and, when consummating them, they are liable 
to find serious difficulty in fulfilling their agreement. 



Marketing of Butter 425 

Speculating in Futures. — Buying or selling- for future de- 
livery is not as common in the butter business as on the grain 
market, though it is participated in to a limited extent by the 
speculative element in most markets. The purpose of buying for 
future delivery is based on the hope of the buyer to sell at a 
higher price at the time of delivery, thereby making a profit. The 
object of selling for future delivery lies in the assumption of the 
seller that he may be able to buy at a reduced price and thereby 
reap a profit. It is obvious that buying and selling for future de- 
livery is purely a speculative transaction which may yield profit- 
able returns, but which involves the usually high risks char- 
acteristic of all speculation. 

Methods of Payment. — As previously stated, dairy butter 
sold direct to customers or by parcel post, is usually paid for by 
cash on delivery. In the case of hotels, restaurants, etc., the 
dairy farmer usually collects weekly or monthly and sometimes 
at the end of the season. Dairy butter sold to the country store 
is generally paid for in trade. 

Creameries selling direct to retail stores make their collec- 
tions weekly or monthly. In the case of doubtful customers it is 
advisable to demand remittance with the order or to deliver the 
butter C. O. D. 

Payments for shipments to the wholesale trade in distant 
markets involve more or less delay. If butter is sold on com- 
mission, usually several weeks elapse before the returns arrive 
and even in the case of "track sales" and "delivered sales" several 
days and often one to two weeks are required for the payments 
to arrive In the meantime the farmers have to be paid and the 
supplies and package have to be purchased. This is often too 
great a financial strain on the creamery whose operating capital 
is generally exceedingly limited. 

This difficulty is most commonly taken care of by permis- 
sion, on the part of the wholesale receiver or the commission 
man, to allow the shipper to draw on him to the extent of a large 
portion of the shipment of butter at the time of shipment. The 
creamery attaches a draft to the bill of lading and the receiver 
or commission man settles for the balance upon arrival of the 
goods or upon their sale, respectively. Banks that pay interest 
on the balance of the creamery account, invariably discount these 



426 Marketing of Butter 

drafts. Banks that pay no interest on the creamery balance, fre- 
quently accept the drafts without discounting. 

Butter Exchanges. — The butter exchange is a voluntary 
trade organization of wholesale dealers in butter. In many cases 
the exchange is not confined to butter alone, but includes other 
allied commodities, such as cheese, eggs, poultry, etc. Specific 
examples of produce exchanges of dealers in butter or butter and 
allied commodities, whose operations are recognized as having 
the greatest influence upon the marketing of butter in this coun- 
try, are : 

The New York Mercantile Exchange, New York City, N. Y. 

The Chicago Butter and Egg Board, Chicago, Illinois. 

The San Francisco Wholesale Dairy Produce Exchange, San 
Francisco, California. 

The Elgin Board of Trade, Elgin, Illinois. 

The Boston Chamber of Commerce, Boston, Massachusetts. 
These produce exchanges are generally incorporated associa- 
tions. Weld^ enumerates the primary functions of the produce 
exchange as follows : 

"1. To provide a convenient market or trading place. 

2. To regulate business dealings of members. 

3. To provide a system to facilitate the settlement of trade 
disputes. 

4. To establish uniform grades and a system of inspection. 

5. To acquire and to disseminate market information." 
The specific objects and functions of the different exchanges 

cover a varying range. The charter of the New York Mer- 
cantile Exchange, for instance, records the following ob- 
jects of the Association : "To provide and regulate a suitable 
room or rooms for an exchange in the City of New York; to 
foster trade; to protect" it against unjust or unlawful exactions; 
to reform abuses ; to diffuse accurate and reliable information ; 
to settle differences between members ; to promote among them 
good fellowship and a more enlarged and friendly intercourse; 
and to make provision for the widows and families of deceased 
members." 

The realization of its objects and the safeguarding of its pol- 
icies is accomplished by the careful supervision of admission of 
new members. 



1 Weld, The Marketing of Farm Products, 1916. 



Marketing of Butter 427 

The "Call." — One of the important features of the butter ex- 
change is the "Call." A\'eld defines the "Call" as "a device for 
making bids and offers, partly to establish market prices or 
quotations and partly to bring about actual sales." 

In the larger markets, such as New York, Chicago, etc., the 
traders assemble each day at a fixed hour (at 10 a. m. in New 
York and Chicago) for the "Call." The "Call" is usually con- 
ducted in a room with a raised platform at one end for the 
chairman, and a blackboard at the back, on which are recorded 
receipts of the day, general market conditions and the bids and 
offers made under the call. After the offers for sale made by 
the traders, including quantity, quality and price, are posted on 
the blackboard, bids are called for. The bids are also posted. 
The members of the Exchange appear on the floor and buyers 
and sellers make public bids on' the offers of butter. Often these 
bids and offers result in sales and these sales show in a public 
manner the prices at which receivers are willing to sell their 
butter and the prices at which buyers are willing to purchase it. 

The bidding under the "Call" affords competitive sellers an, 
opportunity to sell butter against each other according to the 
supply. Should there be more demand for butter on any one 
day at a price above the quotation of the previous day, the quo- 
tation will be advanced to such a point as buyers are paying for 
the butter, for the buyers will not stand for any quotation that 
is lower than the price they are actually paying for butter. The 
same principle applies to the sellers. Should the sellers be 
loaded down with butter, it is their privilege to offer it at such 
prices at which and until the buyers will take hold, and often- 
times with the market stocked with butter, it is necessary to 
sell it at prices where the retailers will be able to reduce their 
selling price to the consumer. In this way the consumer be- 
comes interested in consuming more butter and the surplus stock 
becomes disposed of. 

The actual sales and purchases made under the "Call" are 
few. According to Eschenbrenner^ they sometimes do not ex- 
ceed 5 per cent of the daily receipts of butter, the primary 
object of the "Call" being to feel market conditions rather than 
make specific sales. The present tendency of the butter trade 

1 Eschenbrenner, New York Produce Review, April, 1916." 



428 Marki^ttng of Butte;r 

is toward conducting its transactions through the medium of 
private sales. The great bulk of butter handled by members 
of the Exchange is not sold under the "Call," but by private 
deals between buyers and sellers. This situation is largely the 
result of the increasing differentials of grades and the develop- 
ment of special markets for special grades, for which butter from 
special creameries is demanded. The "Call," however, serves in 
many instances as a convenient means for the seller who has a 
surplus, to find a buyer and for the buyer in case of shortage 
of any particular grade of butter to locate a seller of that grade. 
Considerable trading is also usually done privately between 
members at the conclusion of the "Call" and before the meeting 
adjourns. 

Butter Quotations. — The problem of determining butter 
quotations is a subject of the greatest importance to the entire 
butter industry. Butter quotations, in order to be correct, should 
coincide with the actual market value of tlie butter. They should 
therefore be determined by the supply and demand of butter, 
otherwise they may be conducive of serious disturbances in the 
normal movement of butter on the market, which disturbance^ 
are bound to operate ci^ainst the best interests of the butter 
business. 

Limited space does not permit here a detailed discussion 
of the multitude of agencies through which price quotations are 
established, but the importance of the subject justifies a brief 
reference to the prevailing systems of determining butter quo- 
tations in a few of the leading butter markets of the country. 
These references are confined here to the New York, Chicago 
and Elgin quotations. 

Formerly the New York and Chicago quotations were de- 
termined by a committee of the New York Mercantile Exchange 
and the Chicago Butter Board, respectively. These committees, 
consisting of dealers, being in most intimate touch with the 
market and with the actual market value of the butter, were as- 
sumed to be admirably qualified to arrive at just and correct 
quotations. They met each day at the conclusion of the "Call" 
behind closed doors. 

"This same practice obtained abroad and even in Denmark 
butter quotations decided upon by the Copenhagen merchants 



Marketing of Butter 429 

are still largely used as a basis of settlement with creameries. 
But in this country quotations made by price committees of 
merchants have not been looked upon with favor by govern- 
ment officials, especially when they did not accurately repre- 
sent prevailing values, and it was usually found that the tend- 
ency of most price committees of merchants was to keep the 
official quotations below prevailing selling values. Several of 
our trade organizations were thus forced by the government to 
discontinue the so-called official quotations, but some still con- 
tinue the practice."^ 

In 1907 the Mercantile Exchange of New York was sued by 
the Government on the ground of fraudulent manipulation of 
quotations, with the result of prohibiting the Exchange from 
issuing quotations not representing the value of butter based on 
actual sales by first hand receivers. In a decision rendered by 
the Supreme Court it was decided that this quotation committee 
was a combination in restraint of trade and the practice was 
decided to be illegal. Realizing that the actual sales under the 
"Call" of the Exchange were too small to justify the basing of 
quotations on these sales, the Exchange discontinued the issu- 
ance of official quotations and the determination of price quo- 
tations was assumed by outside market reporters. 

Since then the firm of Urner-Barry Company, with the help 
of a most efficient force of trained market reporters, has as- 
sumed the responsibility of establishing daily price quotations 
in New York. After the "Call" each day, having taken into con- 
sideration the bids and offers under the "Call," the market re- 
porter makes a canvass of the market, calling on the buyers and 
sellers and ascertaining the prices at which they are doing busi-* 
ness through private negotiations; then, at about noon each 
day he announces the quotations he will publish in his paper 
for the various grades of butter. These quotations are accepted 
as the settling basis for the day and these are the quotations 
that are sent broadcast throughout the country. 

In Chicago the quotation committee met a similar fate, the 
courts prohibiting its functions, unless quotations were made on 
the basis of actual sales, and the making of butter (|uotati<Mis 
passed into the hands of outside market reporters. 

^ Making Quotations — Comments, The Buttermakers' Discussion Club, 
New York Produce Review, July 12, 1916. 



430 Marketing of Butter 

The Elgin Board also changed its method of determining 
quotations to issuing them on the basis of actual sales made at 
weekly meetings of the board. In some markets, however, the 
committee system of issuing quotations still prevails. 

The chief reason why quotation committees proved unsat- 
isfactory and which led finally to their discontinuation in Chi- 
cago and New York was the fact that these committees repre- 
sented largely only the wholesale receivers. The receiver nat- 
urally is interested in buying as cheaply as possible and this 
created a tendency for the establishment of quotations lower 
than the actual sales value of the butter, with its undesirable 
results on the market, such as dissatisfaction among retailers 
who could not understand the great difference between the 
prices they had to pay and the butter quotations of the commit- 
tee, it also invited the practice of paying premiums to the ship- 
per, etc. 

The exceedingly small sales on the floor of the Exchange 
did not justify the price determinations on the basis of the actual 
sales of the Exchange, hence the only logical alternative ap- 
peared to be for the Exchange to turn the responsibility of mak- 
ing price quotations over to independent market reporters. In 
the case of the Elgin quotations the discontinuation of the Elgin 
board would have meant the discontinuation of Elgin quota- 
tions, because the Elgin market itself is a negligible quantity, 
so the only means to save the Elgin quotation was to comply 
with the order of the courts and issue quotations on actual sales 
by the board, in order not to deprive the large sections of the 
country doing business on the Elgin basis, of the Elgin market 
to which they have become accustomed as a trading basis. 

It is obvious that the market reporter, assuming the re- 
sponsibility of making price quotations, is thus vested with vast 
powers, the abuse of which for his own interests, or through 
incompetence, would throw the market into a most chaotic con- 
dition. In the first place, the market reporter must be a man of 
ability, experience and judgment. He gets his information by 
going around among the trade and must be able to distinguish 
between gossip and facts and between fiction and the truth. 
Aside from the condition of supply and demand he must cope 
with the difficulties of the influence on the demand for and sup- 



Marketing of Buttkr 431 

ply of storage butter, on the market value of fresh goods, and 
he must above all be a man of superior integrity, honesty and 
disinterestedness. 

Inspection and Grading. — Upon its arrival in the w^holesale 
receiver's hands the butter is inspected and graded. Butter deal- 
ers have agreed to a standard score card with 100 points as the 
basis for perfection, and giving certain values to flavor and 
odor, body and texture, color, salt, and package. 

Most butter exchanges in the larger markets have an offi- 
cial inspector of butter^ whose services are available to the mem- 
bers of the exchange, for compensation. lUitter so inspected is 
branded with the official stamp of the exchange. The inspector 
of the New York Mercantile Exchange has a stamp of different 
shape for each main grade, so as to facilitate the recognition 
of the grade by the stamp. The great bulk of the butter re- 
ceived by the wholesale distributors of the larger markets is not 
subjected to an official inspection by the inspector employed by 
the wholesale trade organization. Sales, on the negotiation of 
which official inspection is not requested, are commonly spoken 
of as being "over-the-trier." The inspection service maintained 
by the Exchange is largely, if not entirely, for the purpose of in- 
specting those lots of butter of which inspection is requested 
by the butter, when purchased under the "Call." as for instance in 
the case of dispute between the seller and buyer as to grade, or 
in the case of butter sold to the Government. 

When, in the opinion or judgment of the buyer the butter 
he receives does not conform in quality with the grade he pur- 
chased under the "Call," he has the privilege to apply for the 
services of the official inspector. If the decision of the inspector 
is not acceptable to either or both of the contracting parties, an 
appeal may be made from the decision of the inspector, to the 
chairman of the Butter Committee, who then appoints three 
members from that committee to inspect the butter in dispute. 
They report their results to the Superintendent of the Exchange. 
The decision of this subcommittee is final. 

While there are minor variations in the grades and grading 
of butter on the different markets, as a whole the classification of 
grades is very similar in the principal markets throughout the 
country. 



432 Marketing op Butter 

BUTTER RULES OF THE NEW YORK MERCANTILE 

EXCHANGE.^ 
Classifications — Grades and Scores. 

1. Butter shall be classified as Creamery, Renovated, La- 
dles, Packing Stock and Grease Butter. 

Definitions. — 2. Creamery. — Butter offered under this class- 
ification shall have been made in a creamery from cream sepa- 
rated at the creamery or gathered from farmers. 

3. Renovated. — Butter offered under this classification sliall 
be such as is made by melting butter, clarifying the fat there- 
from and rechurning the same with fresh milk, cream or skim- 
milk, or other similar process. 

4. Ladles. — Butter offered under this classification shall be 
such as is collected in rolls, lumps, or in whole packages and 
reworked by the dealer or shipper. 

5. Packing Stock. — Butter offered under this classifica- 
tion shall be original farm-made butter in refills, lumps or other- 
wise, without additional moisture or salt. 

6. Grease Butter shall comprise all classes of butler grad- 
ing below thirds, or of packing stock grading below No. 3, as 
hereinafter specified, free from adulteration. 

Grades. — 7. Creamery. Renovated and Ladles, shall be grad- 
ed as Extras, Firsts, Seconds and Thirds ; and Packing Stock 
shall be graded as No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3. 

Definition of Grades. — 8. Grades of Butter must conform to 
the following requirements. 

Extras. — 9. Shall be a standard grade of average fancy qual- 
ity in the season when offered under the various classifications. 
Ninety per cent, shall conform to the following standard; the 
balance shall not grade below Firsts : 

Flavor. — Must be sweet, fresh and clean for the season 
when offered if Creamery, or sweet, fresh and reasonably clean 
if Renovated or Ladles. 

Body. — Must be firm and uniform. 

Color. — Not higher than natural grass, nor lighter than light 
straw, but should not be streaked or mottled. 

Salt. — Medium salted. 



^ Secured through courtesy of New York Produce Review and Am. Cream- 
ery. April, 1919. 



Marketing of Butter 433 

Package. — Sound, good, uniform and clean. 

Firsts. — 10. Shall be a grade next below Extras and must 
be good butter for the season when made and offered, under the 
various classifications. Ninety per cent, shall conform to the 
following standard; the balance shall not grade below Seconds: 

Flavor. — Must be reasonably sweet, reasonably clean and 
fresh if Creamery or Renovated, and reasonably sweet if La- 
dles. 

Body. — Must be firm and fairly uniform. 

Color. — Reasonably uniform, neither very high nor very 
light. 

Salt. — May be reasonably high, light or medium. 

Package. — Sound, good, uniform and clean. 

Seconds. — 11. Shall be a grade next below Firsts. 

Flavor. — Must be reasonably good. 

Body. — If Creamery, must be solid boring. If Ladles or 
Renovated, must be ninety per cent, solid boring. 

Color. — Fairly uniform, but may be mottled. 

Salt. — May be 'high, medium or light. 

Package. — Good and uniform. 

Thirds. — 12. Shall be a grade below Seconds and may con- 
sist of promiscuous lots. 

Flavor. — May be off-flavored and strong on tops and sides. 

Body. — Not required to draw a full trier. 

Color. — May be irregular or mottled. 

Salt. — High, light or irregular. 

Package. — Any kind of package mentioned at time of sale. 

13. (For grades higher than Extras see paragraph No. 25.) 

No, 1 Packing Stock. — 14. Shall be sweet and sound, packed 
in large, new, or good uniform second-hand barrels, having a 
wooden head in each end, or in new tubs, either to be parchment 
paper-lined. Barrels and tubs to be packed full. 

No. 2 Packing Stock. — 15. Shall be reasonably sweet and 
sound, and may be packed in promiscuous or different kinds of 
barrels, tubs or tierces, without being parchment paper lined, 
and may be packed in either two-headed or cloth-covered bar- 
rels. 

No. 3 Packing Stock. — 16. Shall be a grade below No. 2, and 
may be oiif-flavored, or strong; may be packed in any kind or 
kinds of packages. 



434 Marketing of Butter 

17. Charges for inspection of Packing Stock shall be the 
same as the rules call for on other grades. 

18. Mold.— There shall be no grade for butter that shows 
mold. 

Known Marks. — 19. Known marks shall comprise such but- 
ter as is known to the trade under some particular mark or des- 
ignation and must grade as Extras or better if Creamery or Ren- 
ovated, and as Firsts or better if Ladles in the season when of- 
fered unless otherwise specified. Known marks to be ofifered un- 
der the call must previously have been registered in a book kept 
by the Superintendent for that purpose. If Renovated, the fac- 
tory district number and statement be registered. 

Scoring. — 20. The standard official score shall l)e as follows 
and shall apply to Creamery Butter only: 

Flavor 45 points 

Body 25 points 

Color 15 points 

Salt 10 points 

Style 5 points 

100 points 

21. Extra Creamery may score either 91, 92 or 93 points at 
the discretion of the Butter Committee, who shall determine the 
required score from time to time in such manner that it shall 
represent an average fancy quality in the season when ofifered. 
But butter scoring more than required for Extras shall be de- 
liverable on a contract for Extras, and may be branded as such at 
the request of seller, or buyer. Any change in the Standard score 
required for Extras shall, after authorization by the Butter Com- 
mittee, be announced by the caller at the opening of the next 
regular call and posted upon the bulletin board of the Exchange 
and be efifective 24 hours later. 

22. The minimum score of Firsts shall, at all times, be 4 
points below the score required for Extras. 

23. The minimum score of Seconds shall be 5 points below 
the minimum score required for Firsts. 

24. The minimum score of Thirds shall be 7 points below 
the minimum score required for Seconds. 



Marketing of Buttkr 435 

BUTTER RULES OF THE CHICAGO BUTTER AND EGG 

BOARD.i 

Packages to be Used. 
Creamery, Centralized Creamery or Held Butter: — 

Tubs — hardwood about sixty (60) pounds standard, White 
Ash with wood — or satisfactory metal hoops, or Ijoxes of sat- 
isfactory material; thickness of material shall not be less 
than 9/16" for sides and ends and 5/16" for tops and bot- 
toms; boxes shall have net capacity of not over seventv (70) 
pounds or less than sixty (60) pounds. All tubs or boxes 
should be parafhned and lined with parchment paper. 

Ladles Tubs or boxes. 

Renovated Tubs or boxes. 

Packing Stock Any size or style of package. 

Grease Butter Any size or style of package. 

Classifications, Grades and Scores. 

1. Butter shall be classified as Creamery, Centralized Cream- 
ery, Held Butter, Renovated, Ladles, Packing Stock and 
Grease Butter. 

Definitions. 

2. Creamery. Butter offered under this classification must be 
made in a creamery. The cream shall either be separated 
at the creamery or hauled direct to the factory from the 
farms. 

3. Centralized Creamery. Butter offered under this classifica- 
tion must be made in a creamery. Cream used in the man- 
ufacture of this butter may be gathered direct from the 
farmers or shipped in from cream stations. 

^4. Held Butter. Butter offered under this classification shall 
be butter that has become Cold Storage Butter by virtue of 
the laws of the United States or of the State in which such 
butter is sold. 
5. Renovated. Butter offered under this classification shall 
be such as is made by melting butter, clarifying the fat' 
therefrom and re-churning the same with fresh milk, cream, 
or skimmilk, or other similar process. 

' Secured through courtesy of Chicago Dairy Produce, April, 1919. 



436 Marketing of Butter 

6. Ladles. Butter offered under this classification shall be 
such as is collected in rolls, lumps, or in whole packages 
and re-worked by the dealer or shipper. 

7. Packing- Stock. Butter offered under this classification 
shall be original butter without additional moisture or salt^ 
from creamery or dairy (but may be from miscellaneous 
sources), which has been collected in any quantity and 
packed in barrels, tubs or other containers. It must be of 
quality fit for human consumption as food and free from 
adulteration. 

8. Grease Butter. Butter offered under this classification 
shall consist of all grades of butter below thirds. If Pack- 
ing- Stock, below No. 3, free from adulteration. 

Grades. 

9. Creamery, Centralized Creamery and Held Creamery shall 
be graded Extras, Standard, First, Seconds, and Thirds; 
Renovated and Ladles as Firsts and Seconds; and Packing 
Stock as Number 1, Number 2. and Number 3. 

10. Grades of butter must conform to the following require- 
ments : 

Extras. 

11. Shall be a grade of creamery of average fancy quality in 
the season when offered under the classifications. Ninety 
per cent shall conform to the following standard, the bal- 
ance shall not grade below ninety points : 

Flavor: Must be sweet, fresh and clean for the season 
when offered in Creamery, and sweet and clean in Held. 
Body: Must be firm and uniform. Color: Must be either 
light straw color, medium or high, but must be uniform 
and neither streaked, or mottled. Salt: May be defined as 
light, medium or high, but must not be gritty. Package: 
New, sound, good, uniform and clean. 

Standards. 

12. Shall be a grade of centralized creamery of average fancy 
quality in the season when offered. Ninety per cent shall 
conform to the following standard and the balance shall 
not grade below eighty-nine points : 



Marketing oi' Buttku 437 

Flavor: Must be sweet, fresh and clean, and sweet and 
clean if Held. 

Body: Must be firm and uniform. Color: Must be either 
light straw color, medium, or high, but must be uniform, 
and neither streaked nor mottled. Salt: May l)e deiined as 
light, medium or high, but must not be gritty. Package: 
New, sound, good, uniform and clean. 

Firsts. 

13. Shall be a grade below Extras and must be good butter 
for the season when made and offered under the classifica- 
tions. Ninety per cent shall conform to the following stand- 
ard, the balance shall not grade below eighty-seven score : 
Flavor: Must be reasonably sweet, reasonably clean, and 
fresh if Creamery, Centralized Creamery, Renovated, and 
reasonably sweet and clean if Held. Body: Must be firm 
and fairly uniform. Color: Reasonably uniform, neither 
very high nor very light. Salt: May be light, medium or 
high. Package: New, sound, good, uniform and clean. If 
Ladles, must be ninety per cent solid boring, color rea- 
sonably uniform and package sound and clean. 

Seconds. 

14. Shall be a grade below Firsts. Flavor: Must be reasonably 
good. Body: If Creamery, Centralized Creamery, or Held 
must be solid boring. If Renovated or Ladles, must be 
ninety per cent solid boring. Color: Fairly uniform, but 
may be mottled. Salt: May be light, medium or high. 
Package: Good and uniform. 

Thirds. 

15. Shall be a grade below seconds and may consist of promis- 
cuous lots. Flavor: May be off flavored and strong on tops 
and sides but not rancid. Body: Not required to draw a 
full trier. Color: May be irregular or mottled. Salt: High, 
light or irregular. Package: Any kind of package men- 
tioned at the time of sale. 

No. 1 Packing Stock. 

16. Shall be original butter without additional moisture or salt, 
sweet and sound, packed in barrels, or in tubs or boxes, to 
be parchment paper-lined ; packages to be packed full. 



438 Marketing of Butter 

No. 2 Packing Stock. 

17. Shall be original butter without additional moisture or salt, 
sweet and sound, may be packed in different kinds of bar- 
rels, tierces, pails, tubs or boxes; may be without paper 
lining. 

No. 3 Packing Stock. 

18. Shall be a grade or quality above Grease butter and packed 
in any kind or all kinds of packages. 

Scoring. 

19. The standard official score for salted butter shall be as fol- 
lows : 

Flavor 45 points 

Body 25 points 

Color 15 points 

Salt 10 points 

Style 5 points 

20. The standard official score for unsalted creamery butter 
shall be as follows : 

Flavor .45 points 

Body 30 points 

Color 15 points 

Style 10 points 

Extras. 

21. Shall consist of a grade of butter scoring ninety-two points 
or better. 

Standards. 

22. Standards shall consist of the highest grade of Centralized 
Creamery made during the season when offered and shall 
score ninety points or better. 

Firsts. 

23. The minimum score of Creamery Firsts shall at all times 
be four points below the score required for Extras. 

Seconds. 

24. The minimum score of Creamery Seconds shall be four 
points below the minimum score required for Firsts. 

Thirds. 

25. The minimum score of Creamery Thirds shall be five points 
below the minimum score for Seconds. 



Marketing of Butter 439 

Distribution. — The distribution of butter to the retail trade 
on the. large markets is a class of work which is the business of 
the jobber. The jobber buys from the wholesale receiver, com- 
mission merchant or broker and sells to retail stores, hotels, res- 
taurants, steamship companies, Pullman car companies and 
other retail outlets. The jobbers are also frequently termed re- 
tailers because they sell to the retail stores. Jobbers who have 
no established place of business but load the goods they buy 
from the wholesale receivers on their wagons and peddle them 
among the retail stores, are called "wagon men." 

In reality the jobbers are not the only middlemen who dis- 
tribute the butter to the retail men. Many of the wholesale re- 
ceivers and of the commission men also sell to the retail trade. 

While some of the butter is sold from the wagon direct to 
the hotel and restaurant trade, and through other similar di- 
rect outlets, the great bulk of the butter reaches the consumer 
through the medium of the grocery store. 

The houses selling to the retail trade have in their employ a 
force of salesmen canvassing the city. They call on the grocery 
trade at regular intervals, such as once per week, soliciting 
their business. The houses selling to the retail stores are very 
numerous in the large markets and competition is usually very 
keen, so that constant soliciting is indispensable in order to hold 
the trade. 

As previously stated, the butter passes through the hands of 
several middlemen, first the railroad, then the wholesale receiver, 
or the commission man, then the jobber and finally the retail 
store. When the wholesaler sells direct to the retailer the job- 
ber drops out of the chain of steps through which the butter 
moves in its passage from the creamery to the consumer. Occa- 
sionally the broker also enters into the chain of agencies through 
which butter passes. The broker handles large quantities only, 
he does not take possession of the goods but acts in a similar 
capacity as the commission man, and his overhead expense is 
very low. He is therefore able to handle butter at a very low 
rate of commission, usually not over -} of 1 cent per pound. 
He may represent the buyer or the seller. His services are en- 
gaged most often when the buyer or seller is located at a great 
distance from the place where the butter is to be bought or 



440 Marketing of Butter 

sold, and the party who is trying to buy or sell is not familiar 
with prospective customers in the distant market. 

Frequently the wholesale receivers or the commission men 
have their butter printed by the so-called "butter cutters." These 
men have tlie equipment for printing- l)utter and receive a small 
commission for their services. Again, there are firms with chain 
stores, whose buyers may purchase their entire supply of butter 
from the wholesale receiver, or the commission man. 

Finally, there is the speculative buyer of butter. He may- 
be a part of the butter business, the creamery, the wholesale re- 
ceiver, the commission man, the jobber, etc. But quite often 
he belongs to a class generally not handling butter as a main 
business, but largely or wholly only for speculation on the side. 
Thus, especially during the storage season, when butter prices 
are at ebbtide, individuals in diverse walks of life, buy butter 
and put it in storage with the hope of reaping a profit when butter 
prices are high. This type of speculative buyer represents an ele- 
ment that does not usually add stability to the butter fnisiness. He 
is interested largely only in temporary private gain, in making 
a little "easy money." When the market unexpectedly weak- 
ens, he generally becomes panicky and pours his holdings out on- 
the market, causing a further weakening of prices, which in 
some cases may result in a slump of the market to the tem- 
porary detriment of the butter industry This in turn usually 
discourages this class of butter buyers and often rids the busi- 
ness of much of the speculative element for several years. 

Consumption of Butter in the United States and in Other 
Countries. — According to T. R. Pirtle,^ Statistician United States 
Dairy Division, there was prior to the World war, a 
steady increase in the consumption of butter throughout the 
world, and the countries of small butter production had been 
importing increasing amounts of butter year by year. 

Exceptions to this general statement are the United States 
which has shown a decrease in consumption since 1900. the 
Netherlands since 1903 and the United Kingdom since 1906. 

The following figures, secured from Mr. Pirtle's article show 
the per capita butter consumption by years in the United States 
and in other countries. 



1 Pirtle — The Con.sumption of Butter in the U. S. and in Other Countries, 
The MUk Magazine, Vol. IT, No. 6, 1919. 



MaRKI'TTNG of BuTTlvR 



441 



Table 61. — Per Capita Annual Consumption of Butter in the 
United States by Years. 



All Butter 


Creamery Butter 


Year 


Pounds per Capita 

12.9 
14.5 
13.3 
15.2 
18.8 
19.6 
17.5 
16.5 
14.0 


Year 


Pounds per Capita 


18.50 




1890 
1900 
1904 
1909 
1914 
1916 
1917 
1918 




2.4 


1860 






5.3 


1870 






63 


1880 






68 


1890 






8.0 


1900 






73 


1909 




69 


1914 






16 


1918 















Table 62. — Per Capita Annual Consumption of Butter by 

Countries. 



Country 


Date 


Pounds per Capita 


Australia 


1913 
1914 
1914 
1906 
1909 
1911 
1906 
1912 
1906 
1906 
1913 
1913 
1916 


25 6 


New Zealand 

Denmark 

United Kingdom 


21.7 
19.0 
190 


United States 


17.5 


Canada 


163 


Norway 


14 


Netherlands 


11 3 


Switzerland 

France 


11.0 
80 


Italy 


25 


Argentina 


1.7C) 
2.0 (=) 


Union of South Africa 


Germany 


(') 


Austria 


C) 

o 
(") 

C) 


?2gypt 


Hawaii 


Tapan 


China 





1 Represents consumption of factorv butter only. 

^ Estimated. 

' It is g-enerally understood that consumption of dairy products in Ger- 
many is large. Imports of butter in 1911 exceeded 120,000,000 pounds, but no 
records are available to establish per capita consumption. 

*- No record available of total production. Imports in 1913 were 11,000,000 
pounds and exports 2.000.000 pounds. 

^ Consumption very small. 

« 1900 record suggests less than one pound per capita. This was im- 
proved to about five pounds in 1918. 

■^ Very little butter is consumed except by the foreign population; how- 
ever, use is increasing and becoming more general. 

» Butter not used by Chinese except by a small but growing number of 
wealthier classes. Normal consumption of butter estimated at 2,000,000 
pounds per annum. 



442 



Marketing of Butter 



EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 

The following table shows the pounds of butter exported from 
and the pounds of butter imported into the United States from 
1852 to 1918, inclusive: 

Table 63, — Exports and Imports of Butter for the United States 

1852-1918^ 



Year ending June 30, 



1852-1856. 
1857-1861. 
1862-1866. 
1867-1871 . 
1872-1876. 
1877-1881. 
1882-1886. 
1887-1891. 
1892-1896. 
1897-1901. 
1902-1906. 
1907-1911. 
1912-1916. 
By years : 

1907... 

1908. . . 

1909... 

1910. . . 

1911... 

1912... 

1913... 

1914... 

1915... 

1916... 

1917... 

1918. .. 



Exports 


Imports 


pounds. 


pounds. 


2,781,510 


1,612,671 


6,793,614 


2,484,819 


21,625,165 


2,978,951 


2,858,578 


5,257,975 


5,527,762 


D 


39,481,907 


D 


17,681,492 


246,631 


16,685,391 


202,883 


12,150,434 


91,224 


23,758,629 


47,421 


14,609,637 


321,038 


6,601,489 


847,351 


7,341,923 


2,914,234 


12,544,777 


441,755 


6,463,061 


780,608 


5,981,265 


646,320 


3,140,545 


1,360,245 


4,877,797 


1,007,826 


6,092,235 


1,025,668 


3,585,600 


1,162,253 


3,693,597 


7,842,022 


9,850,704 


3,828,227 


13,487,481 


712,998 


26,835,092 


523,573 


26,194,415= 


1,655,467= 



Exports. — The butter export trade of the United States has 
so far been very limited in amount and value of butter, con- 
sidering the vast expanse of this country and the great develop- 
ment of our dairy industry. The annual butter exports within 
the last 60 years have varied from two million pounds to thirty- 
nine million pounds, as compared with over two hundred mil- 



1 Annual Report, U. S. Department of Commerce and Labor. These flgures 
represent twelve months, ending June 30. 

D. Included in other Packing House Products. 

- These figures represent twelve months, ending December 31. 



Marketing of Butter 443 

lion pounds exported by the little country of Denmark with 
an area of less than 16,000 square miles and a population of 
only two and one-half million people. 

During- and since the World war there has been a marked 
and growing increase in the amount of butter exported by the 
United States, and the great shortage of butter and other fats in 
Europe suggests that this increase may continue until the de- 
pleted stocks of butter on the European continent are again 
replenished. In considering the immediate future of the butter- 
export trade the fact should not be lost sight of that the neutral 
dairy countries, such as Denmark, Holland, vSwedcn and Norway, 
whose decrease in dairy products during the war was due not 
so much to decrease in cow population, but to diminished pro- 
duction per cow because of shortage of dairy feed, are now 
rapidly approaching normal production again, and are in a posi- 
tion to export to the butter-poor countries of the European con- 
tinent. 

Prior to the war our butter exports to countries of the North 
American continent went largely to Canada, considerable portions 
were also shipped to the Central American countries, Bermuda, 
British Honduras, Mexico, Newfoundland and Labrador. Of the 
European countries England receiv^ed the lion's share, Avhile 
minor portions went also to Scotland, Germany, Denmark, Bel- 
gium, the Netherlands, Spain, the Azores and Turkey in Europe. 
The chief exports to Oceania went to Australia and the Philip- 
pine Islands. Of the South American countries Venezuela re- 
ceived the largest portion, while British and French Guiana, 
Colombia, Chile, Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, Argentine and Ecuador 
were recipients of smaller amounts. In Asia our export trade 
was confined largely to China, Hongkong and Japan. In Africa, 
American butter went largely to the Belgian Congo and British 
West and South Africa. During and since the war large ship- 
ments of butter have been consigned to the countries of the 
European continents, 



444 



Marketing of Buttkr 



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Marke;ting of Butte;r 445 

Quality of Butter Exported.^ — Prior to the European war 
the great bulk of butter exported by the United States has 
been of the lower grades. This is due in part to the fact that the 
surplus butter, available for export has consisted of the poorer 
grades, partly because there is always a large demand in our 
home markets for our better grades and a disposition of our high 
class trade to pay higher prices for the best butter than can be 
obtained in foreign markets, and partly because many foreign 
markets, including the English markets, do not demand our 
highest grades, as the poorer classes in many of the larger for- 
eign cities cannot afiford to purchase our best grades. For 
this class of trade, therefore, an inferior quality of butter is 
exported. The quality of butter for export, therefore, is largely 
dependent upon the class of trade and the purpose for which 
the butter is to be used. 

The fact is that before the war the export business was al- 
most wholly on Renovated and Baking butter. Since the be- 
ginning of the war, however, the export business has been 
largely on butter scoring 90 to 92 points. 

'While the difference in price for butter between foreign 
and domestic markets will always remain the governing factor 
in the quality and quantity of butter exported, it is to be hoped 
that, with the systematic improvement in the quality of Ameri- 
can butter, the development of foreign markets for our highest 
quality of butter may grow more rapidly in the future than it 
has in the past and that our total exports may assume pro- 
portions consistent with the vastness of the butter industry at 
home. 

Imports. — The annual imports into the United States of 
foreign butter have averaged very materially less than the ex- 
ports. The extreme variations of annual imports ranged be- 
tween 6,821,696 pounds of butter in 1868 and 23,700 pounds in 
1899. Since the year 1884 and up to 1909 they amounted to less 
than one million pounds annually. Beginning with the year 
1910 the annual imports exceeded one million pounds. 

The imports fluctuated largely with the domestic butter 
quotations and the rate of tariff on foreign butter. During the 



1 Information furnished by Prof. R. C. Potts. Specialist in Marketing 
Pfiiry Products, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1916. 



446 Marketing of Butter 

years immediately following the Civil War, when domestic but- 
ter production was at ebbtide and prices soared high, 40 cents 
and over, butter imports reached their maximum. From 1885 
to 1900 when domestic quotations for butter were relatively 
low, averaging 23 cents, butter imports reached their minimum 
figure. After the year 1900 butter quotations steadily rose and 
the amount of imported butter increased. After the tariflf re- 
vision which went into eflfect in November. 1913, and which low- 
ered the tarifif on foreign butter from 6 to 2t/< cents per pound, 
foreign shipments of butter arriving at the Atlantic and Pacific 
seaports increased very rapidly. This increase would un- 
doubtedly have continued had it not been for the advent of the 
European War which diminished the surplus of foreign butter 
and increased the home demand for butter in the warring and 
neutral countries abroad, causing an immediate and rapid de- 
cline of butter imported into the United States from foreign 
countries. 

Source of Butter Imports. — The amount and value of but- 
ter and butter substitutes imported from foreign countries dur- 
ing the years 1911 to 1^15 inclusive is shown in Table 63. 

Prior to the war and immediately after the tarifif revision 
the chief importing European nations were England and Den- 
mark. Small consignments also came from Belgium, France. 
Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Russia in 
Europe, Spain, and Turkey in Europe. Since the beginning of 
the war the imports from the warring and neutral nations have 
become insignificant, Denmark remaining the principal shi])per 

Imports from countries of the North American continent 
are largely confined to Canada. The South American butter 
comes largely from Argentine. In Asia, Turkey is the principal 
country from which butter reached our ports. From Oceania, 
Australia and New Zealand were the chief shippers of imported 
butter and the small amounts of butter imported from Africa 
came largely from Egypt, Tripoli and Italian Africa. At the 
close of the year 1916 importation of foreign butter had ceased 
almost entirely. 



Butter Storage 447 

Quality and Effect of Imported Butter on Domestic Butter 
Markets. — The quality of foreign butter imported into the 
United States before the war varied naturally with the source 
of the butter, the grades ranging from 85 to 93 points. Butter 
from Denmark and from the Argentine Republic usually scored 
92 or better. Butter from Siberia was more or less irregular in 
quality, some of it was very poor. New Zealand and Australian 
butter also came irregular in quality, some of it however being 
very fine.^ 

The tariff reduction and the subsequent large influx of 
foreign butter depressed price quotations in American markets 
to a very marked degree. Thus in March, 1914, Elgin quotations 
dropped to 24 cents, which is an abnormally low figure for 
March. This price depression on domestic goods was felt most 
in the Pacific Coast states in 1914, at which time large ship- 
ments of butter were received from Australia and New Zealand. 
Prices at that time were depressed from 3 to 5 cents, presum- 
ably as the result of the influx of foreign butter. Potts- offers 
the opinion, however, that the sudden depression in prices was 
largely for the purpose of curtailing further imports, as there- 
by the market prices here would be lower than those abroad 
and therefore discouraging exportation from foreign countries. 
He further states that prior to the beginning of the European 
war several New York butter firms were arranging for con- 
tracts to receive butter from Europe. 

Chapter XV. 

BUTTER STORAGE. 

Time and Duration of Storage.— The great bulk of butter 
goes into storage in May, June and early part of July, though 
butter may be, and is, stored at any time of the year when the 
supply and butter prices appear favorable for storage. May, 
June and the first half of July are the natural storage months of 
butter in the northern hemisphere, because the freshening of the 
majority of the cows and succulent condition of the pastures 

1 Information furnisherl by S. C. Thompson, U. S. Dairy Division, Aug- 
ust, 1916. 

2 Potts, Specialist in Marketing Dairy Products, U. S. Dept. of Agricul- 
ture, 1916. 



448 Butter Storage; 

during these months provide a natural surplus of butter and 
cause butter prices to be at ebbtide. 

In times of early draught which causes a shrinkage of the 
surplus output and a rise in butter prices, the storage season 
is usually cut short. When the season is blessed with plenty 
of rainfall, keeping pastures green until late into fall and contin- 
uing a large make, the storage season is usually greatly ex- 
tended beyond the months of May, June and July. 

Under normal conditions the great bulk of butter in storage 
is taken out of storage within nine months of the time it went 
in. Only in exceptional cases is butter held in storage over one 
year, and when this is done it is usually accompanied by a great 
sacrifice in quality and in price. Not all butter that goes into 
storage is held till late winter. Considerable quantities of but- 
ter are "short held," that is, they are put on the market 
after one or but a few months of storage. As early as 
August some of the May or June butter may be sold. Es- 
pecially in times of early draught and consequent early falling 
off of the summer make and rapid rise of butter prices, 
and when the quality of the fresh butter is poor, due to the hot 
weather, butter dealers often find it advantageous to supply their 
trade from their May or June butter in storage, which is usually 
of better quality and which was purchased at a considerably 
lower price than they would have to pay for the midsummer 
butter. In the case of an open summer and fall with a con- 
tinuous large make and only very gradual rise in prices, the 
tendency is to hold the butter in storage until such time as the 
demand necessitates and prices warrant its movement. It is 
obvious that aside from the output of fresh butter, the condition 
of the market, butter prices and consequently the duration of 
storage and the amount of the storage holdings, are influenced by 
the general industrial conditions of the country, exports and 
imports, and to some extent the sale of butter substitutes. 

Since the advent of the Federal Storage Ruling.^ - in Nov- 
ember, 1917, and January, 1918, and rescinded March, 1919, re- 
quiring all butter that is held in cold storage over thirty days to 



1 Rules and Regulations, Governing the Importation, Manufacture, Stor- 
age and Distribution of Food Commodities for Domestic Trade, by Act of 
Congress, approved August 10, 1917, and effective November 1, 1917. 

2 Amendments and Additions to the above, Series B, Supplement, effective 
January 28, 1918. 



Butter Storage 



449 



be marked on each package with the words "Cold Storage," the 
volume of butter that is "Short Held" or stored not in excess of 
thirty days has increased greatly and the practice of "rotating" 
the butter stored, on a 30 day rotation basis, has become quite 
prevalent. This does by no means take the place of the "long 
held" cold storage of butter, but in a limited way it helps the 
creamery and dealer to bridge over and take care of temporary 
surplus and shortages and to thus avoid sudden embarrassing 
extremes of supply and demand. 

Distribution of Commercial Stocks of Butter. — During the 
major portion of the "long held" storage season the butter held 
in cold storage represents close to 50 per cent of the commercial 
stocks of butter in the country. The remaining stocks of butter 
are divided between the Vvholesale dealers, creameries, retail 
dealers and meat packers. According to statistics furnished by 
the United States Bureau of Markets,^ the distribution of com- 
mercial butter stocks July 1, 1918 and July 1, 1917 was as 
follows : 

Table 67. — Stocks of Butter on Hand July 1, 1918, with Com- 
parative Figures for July 1, 1917, by Classes of Business. 





Total 
stocks 

reported 
as on 
hand 

July 1, 
1918 


Comparative Figures — 

From Firms Reporting for 

Both 1918 and 1917 


Quantity 

reported 

as in 


Class of Business 


1918 stocks 


1917 
stocks 


transit 




Quantity 


Per 

cent of 

1917 


July 1, 
1918 


Total 


Pounds 
76,143,419 


Pounds 
71,645,214 


102.7 


Pounds 
69,756,707 


Pounds 
11,785,536 




Creameries 


13,526,964 

38,558,001 

5,895,423 

16,188,809 

13,630,918 

2,557,891 

1,974,222 

505,988 

370,196 
295,905 
802,133 


12,349,457 

37,623,380 

5,860,935 

14,236,457 

12,057,916 

2,178,541 

1,574,985 

478,959 

251,732 
256,679 
588,616 


108.7 

101.7 

133.5 

93.0 

93.3 
91.5 
93.2 
91.2 

59.1 
124.2 
110.4 


11,363,204 

37,011,569 

4,389,469 

15,302,442 

12,921,408 

2,381,034 

1,690,023 

525,305 

425,869 
205,849 
633,000 


8,986,444 
367,537 
320,550 

1,843,813 

1,787,546 

66,267 

267,192 

605 


Cold storages 

Meat Packers 


Wholesale dealers 

Wholesale dealers in but- 
t^^, eggs, and cheese. . 

Other wholesale dealers. . 
Miscellaneous 


Bakers 


Oleomargarine manufac- 
turers 




Cheese factories 

Other miscellaneous .... 


200,180 
66,407 



' Food Surveys, Bureau of Markets, U. 
Special Issue, Vol. II, No. 3, August 31, 1918. 



S. Department of Agriculture, 



450 



Butter Storage 



Amount of Butter Held in Cold Storage. — The amount of 
butter held in cold storage varies largely with the supply and 
demand jf fresh butter, length of storage season, market prices 
of fresh butter, etc. It is naturally greatest during the storage 

season proper, and lowest just before the storage season opens 
up again. The peak of storage holdings is generally reached 



Pig-. 77. 





6 


Mill 
10 


n s 
15 


of pounds 

20 25 30 35 


4( 








^^ 












1 








3 






















^^^^^^ 








^^^ 




























■ 




1 














Heat packers 


STOCKS 


BEPOP.TED (Pounds) 








CLASS 


1918 1917 


dealers 






^^^^* 


TOTAL 


71,645,214 £9,756,707 










■ 


^■^ 1 


918 




Creameries 
Cold storages 
Meat Backers 

Wholesale 
dealers 


12,349,457 11,363.204 
37,623,360 37,011,569 
5,860,935 4,389,469 




c 


1 1 


917 




14,236,457 15.302,442 





Stocks of Butter Reported for July 1, 1918, and July 1, 1917, liy 
Important Classes of Business 



Millions 



N. Y. 
Uass. 
111. 
Pa. 






■■■^ 


^^^ 


^^^ 






^" 






^^^" 


'^^"" 


■i^na 




■ 








""^^ 








STOCKS FEPOfiTBD 
(Pounds) 




^_^ 










N.V. 15,194.481 
llass. 11,045,055 
111. 9,124.U34 
Pa. 4,291,0^2 
Calif. 3,832,338 


mnn. 
















^^B 




















Conn. 














lUinn. 3,204,877 


Vie. 














Kebr. 3,065.224 
N.J. 2.826.693 
















Conn. 2,048,085 


Ulch. 


BBHBi 












Wis. 2,038,497 


Kofl. 


■■■ 












Ohio 1,961.845 
Mich. 1,896,540 


Iowa 


^^■B 












Kan. 1,495,380 


Colo. 


■■■ 












Iowa 1,493,472 
Colo. 1,374,719 


vtasti. 


■■■ 












Wash. 1,352,727 


Ore. 


■a 












Ore. 1,208,665 
Mo. 1,163.202 


Ko. 


■" 

























Tig. 78. Stocks of Butter Reported for the Big-liteen Most Important States. 

by September and the bottom early in May. During the years 
from 1907 to 1916 the percentage of storage holdings of butter 
reported by the Associated Warehouses averaged six and nine- 
tenths on May 1, and 100 on September 1, as shown in graphic 
illustration, Fig. 80. 

The average holdings on the first of September, for \he 
entire period of 10 years amounted to 64,378,898 pounds. This 
diagram further shows that more than three-quarters ot the 



Butter Storage 



451 



holdings in these warehouses are stored during the months of 
June and July, while most of the distribution is within the 
months of October and March, inclusive. The fact that, accord- 
ing to these figures, an average of 6.9 per cent of the holdings 
remain at the opening of the new storage season, suggests that 
this proportion of holdings is carried over into the next season. 



Ulscellaseous, Z.i % 




STOCKS KEPORTEL (Pounds) 



TOTkL 



76.1«.419 



Creameries 13,526,964 

Cold slor<.eea 33,558,001 

Heat packers 5,895,423 
v^olesale 

deoJers 16,188,609 

MlEcellMocas 1,974,222 



Pig". 79. Distribution of Stocks by Important Classes July 1, 1918 



The cold storage holdings of creamery butter by months 
reported to the United States Bureau of Markets by the great 
majority of warehouses and including all of the more important 
warehouses in this country, are issued by this bureau for the 
benefit of the dealers, free, in the form of monthly reports. 
The cold storage holdings covering the period 6i October 1, 
1916 to December 1, 1919 are recorded in Table 68. 

Storage Conditions. — In order to justify storage and to have 
the storing of butter fulfill the purpose for which it is intended, 



452 



BuTTKR Storage 



COLD STORAGE HOLDINGS 

F 

CREAMERY BUTTER 



Compiled from the reports of the associated warehouses^ 

Based on the average holdings of the years 

1907 to 1916 inclusive. 



Per a)>».4J«««... . t5-« 

\ ^ 5 ':i ^ ^ -^ > o C J3 ;c »^ ^61 

cent SS P 2 ^ OOOOrtOO O. rAnt 

\/ouu ^^-,,-3^ wo:=:o'-Dt==4S •< cent 

100 



100 

90 

60 
70 
60 
50 
UO 
30 
20 
10 




I 



mil 






90 

so 

70 
60 

50 
UO 
30 
20 
10 



Fig. 80 



BuTTt;R Storagk 



453 



Table 68. — Cold Storage Holdings of Creamery Butter in the 
United States, Oct. 1, 1916, to Dec. 1, 1919.^ 





Total Holdings 


Comparison of Holdings 




Stor- 




Stor- 






Increase 


Months 


ages 


Butter, 


ages 


Butter, 


Butter, 


or 




Re- 


Povinds 


Re- 


Pounds 


Pounds 


Decrease 




ported 




ported 






Percent 


1916 




1916 


1915 


1916 


1915-1916 


Oct. 1.... 


165 


91,728,394 


133 


99,449,607 


88,909,646 


-10.6 


Nov. 1... . 


179 


82,269,098 


142 


92,718,649 


79,294,074 


-14.6 


Dec. 1.. . . 


239 


60,774,859 


189 


71,848,767 


58,627,236 


-18.4 


1917 




1917 




1916 


1917 


1916-1917 


Jan. 1.... 


268 


45,996,514 


227 


48,977,322 


44,673,639 


- 8.8 


Feb. 1.... 


273 


30,281,472 


'211 


31,139,173 


29,250,641 


- 6.1 


Mar. 1... . 


286 


15,542,532 


215 


15,032,769 


14,582,975 


- 3.0 


Apr. 1.. . . 


275 


6,239,268 


214 


3,345,717 


6,022,216 


+80.0 


May 1 . . . . 


281 


2,586,593 


211 


1,081,913 


2,433,144 


+ 124.9 


June 1 . . . . 


292 


8,942,120 


217 


7,016,731 


8,431,140 


+20.2 


July 1.... 


289 


47,612,460 


217 


53,863,278 


44,633,595 


-17.1 


Aug. 1.. . . 


310 


85,540,972 


257 


102,537,337 


81,502,751 


-20.5 


Sept. 1.. . . 


335 


99,225,394 


268 


105,836,003 


94,644,780 


-10.6 


Oct. 1.... 


380 


104,293,375 


332 


100,521,573 


97,456,876 


- 3.0 


Nov. 1.... 


396 


100,114,760 


345 


85,260,302 


93,209,717 


+ 9.3 


Dec. 1.. . . 


385 


77,463,551 


340 


67,291,844 


73,133,855 


+ 8.7 


1918 




1918 




1917 


1918 


1917-1918 


Jan. 1.... 


373 


47,069,946 


324 


41,686,684 


43,311,258 


+ 3.9 


Feb. 1.. . . 


372 


24,780,358 


325 


30,473,709 


23,542,245 


-22.7 


Mar. 1.. . . 


386 


18,808,303 


333 


16,952,367 


18,168,209 


+ 7.2 


Apr. 1.. . . 


381 


14,607,017 


345 


6,805,476 


14,177,901 


+ 108.3 


May 1 . . . . 


375 


10,245,288 


341 


3,607,119 


10,100,054 


+ 180.0 


June 1 . . . . 


383 


13,017,143 


353 


9,953,184 


12,752,296 


+28.1 


Julv 1.... 


419 


49,389,491 


386 


49,981,732 


47,436,912 


- 5.1 


Aug. 1 . . . . 


421 


87,382,926 


380 


79,203,492 


81,384,643 


+ 2.8 


vSept. 1.. . . 


420 


101,838,897 


390 


107,776,392 


100,503,488 


- 6.7 


Oct. 1 . . . . 


408 


87,105,801 


390 


104,926,813 


86,253,033 


-17.8 


Nov. 1 . . . . 


409 


80,595,375 


389 


96,663,946 


79,670,291 


-17.6 


Dec. 1.. . . 


397 


65,577,900 


372 


78,733,939 


65,380,993 


-17.0 


1919 




1919 




1918 


1919 


1918-1919 


Jan. 1.... 


377 


43,210,770 




50,725,766 


43,140,260 


-15.0 


Feb. 1 . . . . 


364 


36,815,793 


' 353 ' 


25,964,218 


36,563,442 


+40.8 


Mar. 1 . . . . 


349 


24,436,630 


338 


18,658,019 


24,414,104 


+30.9 


Apr. 1 . . . . 


333 


12,233,700 


327 


14,628,544 


12,226,929 


-16.4 


May 1. . . . 


330 


9,661,244 


323 


10,157,399 


9,634,690 


- 5.1 


June 1 


344 


29,285,220 


333 


12,749,056 


29,190,222 


+ 129.0 


July 1... 


342 


87,851,371 


325 


47,919,035 


87,720,486 


+83.1 


Aug. 1... 


334 


122,771,843 


■i 


89,157,820 


123,545,070 


+40.6 


Sept. 1 


289 


129,251,064 


2 


99,334,448 


131,710,210 


+32.6 


Oct. 1... 


284 


121,674,977 


2 


87,924,232 


121,834,544 


+38.6 


Nov. 1... 


270 


100,285,328 


3 


80,816,681 


100,851,405 


+24.8 


Dec. 1... 


268 


73,440,191 


2 


65,110,521 


73,676,233 


+ 13.2 


1 Monti 


ily Rep 


orts of Cold 


Storage 


J Holdings ol 


" Butter, Bur 


eau of Mar- 



kets, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 1916-1919. 
' Comparison of total holding.s. 



454 Butter Storage 

the butter must be protected against agents and conditions 
which cause it to deteriorate in quality. The chief of the con- 
ditions injurious to the quality of butter in storage are air. 
light, heat and moisture. 

Air, Light and Heat. — Excessive exposure to air causes de- 
terioration of butter through oxidation, or through bacterial 
action, or both. This oxidation is greatly intensified in the 
presence of light, or heat, or both, and bacterial action is 
enhanced in the presence of heat. Exposure to air is minimized 
by the use of packages of comparatively large size and by 
packing in wrappers and containers that have previously been 
made as near impervious to air as possible. Butter is best 
stored in packages of the largest possible size consistent with 
convenient handling. The larger the cubic content of the pack- 
age, the smaller, relatively, is its surface and the smaller is, 
therefore, the area of butter which is exposed to the air. For 
this reason the firkin used in Europe, the 63 pound tub which 
predominates in the central and eastern United States and the 
56 to 68 pound cube used in the Pacific Coast states, furnish 
more suitable forms of packages, than smaller packages such 
as one, two, or five pound prints, slabs or rolls. The firkins, 
tubs and cubes should be properly paraffined and lined with 
heavy, brine-soaked parchment paper, so as to furnish as nearly 
herrnetical a seal as possible. These same conditions, large 
size and imper^•iousness of package to air, also protect the 
butter against light. In full containers butter keeps better 
than in containers only partly filled. This was experimentally 
demonstrated by Gray and McKay,^ who stored butter in cans 
and in tubs completely filled and similar containers only partly 
full. At — 10 degrees F. to -f 10 degrees F. there was practically 
no difiference in the keeping quality of butter packed in full cans 
and full tubs, but at 32 degrees F. there was a slight difiference 
in favor of the cans. 

Humidity of Storage Rooms. — Aside from the oxidizing 
effect of air, light and heat on the constituents of butter, the 
deterioration of butter in storage results from the decomposition 
or cleavage of the non-fatty constituents, especially the proteins 

^ Gray and McKay, Investigations in the Manufacture and Storage of 
Putter, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A- T- Bulletin 84, 1906, 



Butter Storage 



455 



or curd of butter, as caused by bacterial, enzymic or chemical 
action hastened in the presence of air, heat and moisture. A 
damp storage is prone to cause the development of mold. The 
storage room therefore should be dry. 

Temperature of Storage. — Heat intensifies every type of 
butter deterioration in storage. It hastens oxidation, it enhances 
the action of bacteria and enzymes, it accelerates chemical ac- 
tion and it favors mold development. Butter that is intended 
for prolonged storage must be stored at temperatures of zero 
degrees Fahrenheit or below. At higher temperatures its keeping 
quality is invariably jeopardized and the poorer the quality, the 
more rapid will be the deterioration with age. 

Gray and McKay,^ in a series of experiments, studying the 
effect of storage temperature on keeping quality of butter, found 
that at — 10 degrees F, the butter kept better, both while in 
cold storage and after removal from cold storage, than when 
stored at higher temperatures. The butter in these experiments 
was stored at these temperatures for 5 to 8 months. Similar 
results were obtained by Rogers, Thompson and Keithley,^ who 
show the following scores of butter stored at temperatures rang- 
ing from zero degrees F. to 20 degrees F. : 





Points Lost After Storage 


Kinds of Butter 


Stored a1 
0°F. 
Points 


Stored a1 
10° F. 
Points 


Stored at 
20° F. 
Points 


Raw cream butter. Cry. A 

Raw cream butter, Cry. D 


5.0 

1.7 

3.2 

2.2 

1.7 

2.0 

.6 

.4 

.5 


5.3 
4.1 
4.6 
3.0 
3.6 
3.3 
1.0 
1.0 
1.0 


5.8 
3.3 


Raw cream butter, all samples 

Pasteurized ripened cream, Cry. B 

Pasteurized ripened cream, Cry. E 

Pasteurized ripened cream, all samples . . . 

Pasteurized unripened cream, Cry. C 

Pasteurized unripened cream, Cry. D 

Pasteurized unripened cream, all samples . 


4.8 
5.1 
4.0 
4.6 
1.5 
•1.6 
1.6 



From the above results Rogers and his co-workers conclude 
that the difference between zero degrees F. and 10 degrees F. 



1 Gray and McKav, Investigations in the Manufacture and Storage of 
Butter, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A. I. BuUetin 84, 1906. 

2 Rogers, Thompson and Keithley, The Manufacture of Butter for Storage, 
U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A. I. Bulletin 118, 1912. 



456 Butter Storage; 

is sufficient to warrant the use of the lower temperature, even 
for butter of the best keeping quality. The author's own experi- 
ence, both in experimental and commercial storage of butter, 
is entirely in accord with the above findings and conclusions; 
in order to insure the best keeping quality for storage butter of 
any quality, the butter must be kept at a temperature of zero 
degrees F. or below. 

In isolated cases creameries have their own cold storage. 
This is true of many of the larger creameries. The great ma- 
jority of the creameries of the country, however, lack the neces- 
sary equipm.ent and facilities for prolonged cold storage and 
their attempt to use their own facilities in a great many cases 
proves disappointing in its results. By far the largest portion of 
the storage butter is stored in the cold rooms of large commer- 
cial cold storage houses, whose exclusive business is the storage 
of perishable goods. 

Shrinkage of Butter in Cold Storage. — Under normal con- 
ditions the shrinkage in the weight of butter put in cold storage 
in tubs or cubes is not very great. The main shrinkage usually 
takes place before the butter reaches the cold storage, while the 
butter is held in the creamery cool room and in transportation, 
and after storage when the butter is put up in prints. The loss 
in weight between the package at the churn and the arrival at 
the cold storage, A-aries considerably with the workmansliip of 
the butter, the completeness of moisture incorporation, the treat- 
ment of tubs and liners, the time that elapses between packing 
and storing and the amount of salt butter contains. 

Butter that has a leaky body, as is usually the case with 
butter that is churned at too high a churning temperature, or 
that is made from cream that was not held long enough at the 
churning temperature, or butter that is not worked sufficiently 
to close up the water pockets, is prone to show maximum shrink- 
age due to loss of water or brine. Butter packed in unparaf- 
fined tubs will shrink more than butter packed in paraffined 
tubs. A thin, poor liner permits of greater shrinkage of but- 
ter than a heavy liner of good quality. The longer the butter 
is held at ordinary cool room temperature and the greater the 
distance of transportation before the butter reaches cold storage, 
the more it will sacrifice in weisrht. Salted butter will lose more 



Butter Storage 457 

weight than unsalted butter and heavily salted butter will shrink 
more than lightly salted butter. Even after the butter is in 
cold storage this shrinkage in the case of heavily salted butter 
will continue, resulting in very appreciable loss of weight by the 
end of the storage period. Light salted and unsalted butter, on 
the other hand, do not suffer material loss in cold storage. 

Deterioration of Quality of Butter in Storage. — Butter of 
good quality, intelligently manufactured and properly packed, 
will generally withstand noticeable deterioration under ordinary 
commercial conditions and without regular cold storage for about 
a month. After that time it tends to , depreciate, and unless of 
excej^tional keeping- quality, it will gradually develop specific 
defects, such as rancidity, fishy flavor, etc. In regular cold stor- 
age good butter may retain the character of fresh butter foi; 
several months. However, age is the arch enemy of quality, 
and prolonged storage even at commercial cold storage tempera- 
tures, gradually develops in the great bulk of butter so stored 
the characteristic storage flavor. 

The changes and the causes of these changes which take 
place in butter in storage are exceedingly complex and as yet 
far from being thoroughly understood. These changes afifect 
both the flavor and the texture of butter, varying in kind and 
extent with the character and quality of the butter while fresh 
and the temperature and period of storage. 

The flavor changes often are ver}^ marked, the butter loses 
the characteristic flavors and aroma of fresh butter and devel- 
ops a variety of off-flavors, the specific flavor and its intensity 
in each particular case depending probably on specific combina- 
tions of conditions. Only in rare cases can the flavor defect be 
traced direct to one specific cause. A certain combination of 
factors may yield a specific flavor defect, the absence from this 
combination of one factor may fail to produce the same defect 
and may cause an entirely different defect, although all other 
factors and conditions responsible for the original defect may be 
present. Thus butter may develop a fishy flavor under certain 
apparent conditions. Yet when an effort is made to produce 
fishy butter by subjecting butter to these conditions, fishiness 
often fails to result and in its place usually some other flavor 
develops, such as oily flavor or metallic flavor, etc. 



458 Butte;r Storage; 

These facts emphasize the probability that there are many 
factors which are instrumental in the production of a specific 
flavor defect through their joint action, while each separate fac- 
tor, though necessary for the combination that produces the 
defect, is by itself alone incapable of so doing. As a concrete 
example of this may be quoted the case of tallowy butter the 
specific causes of which have been determined with certainty.^ 
Oxygen carriers and catalizing agents, such as certain metals 
and their salts, especially copper and copper salts, are capable of 
making butter tallowy. These agents are present in average 
butter to a very small extent and in butter containing a normal 
per cent acid and kept in cold storage they fail to produce 
the tallowy flavor. If this butter is made from over-neutralized 
cream, or is wrapped in parchment which was not entirely freed 
from the ammonia used for the neutralizing of the sulphuric 
acid used in the parchmenting process, the butter so wrapped 
may become tallowy very rapidly, especially when it is exposed 
to room temperature. In this case the alkali, which alone does 
not make butter tallowy, is a necessary part of the combination, 
in which copper may be the fundamental cause of the tallowy 
flavor. 

The texture of the butter usually shows marked changes 
only after prolonged cold storage. The grain of the butter 
gradually breaks down giving such butter a more or less 
crumbly and pasty consistency. 

Summary of the Effect of Cold Storage on the Quality of Butter. 

Summing up the most important phases of our present 
knowledge of the efifect of storage of butter on its quality the 
following points are emphasized : 

1. Age tends to deteriorate the flavor of butter. The 
rapidity and intensity of this deterioration, other factors being 
the same, is influenced largely by the temperature of storage. 
At the usual temperature of commercial cold storage, — 6 to — 10° 
F. the changes in flavor are usually very gradual. 

2. The most predominating flavor defect which butter de- 
velops in cold storage is the flavor known as cold storage flavor. 
In the case of butter that was of good quality when it went 

1 Hunziker and Hosman. Tallowy Butter, Its Causes and Prevention, 
Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. I., No, 4, 1917, 



Butter Storagi^, 459 

into storage, the development of the storage flavors may be very 
slight. Butter of poor quality usually shows very great de- 
terioration in storage, the flavor defects may be numerous and 
often one flavor may succeed another as storage progresses. An 
oily flavor may develop into a metallic flavor and this in turn 
may give way to fishy flavor, etc. 

3. The quality of the cream from which the butter is 
made, largely governs the keeping quality of the butter in 
storage. Butter made from a poor quality of cream cannot be 
expected to withstand rapid and intense deterioration in 
storage. 

4. The analysable chemical changes which butter undergoes 
in storage, are very slight, even in butter which has yielded to 
most pronounced flavor changes. The exact changes, and the 
constituents of the butter which are changed, that are respon- 
sible for the development of specific flavor defects have not been 
determined in the great majority of cases. It is assumed with 
reasonable certainty however, that rancidity and tallowiness 
are due to cleavage of the butterfat, rancidity through bacterial 
or enzymic action or both, and tallowiness through chemical 
action. The characteristic flavor of cold storage butter and its 
derivations such as oily, metallic and fishy flavors, are generally 
assumed to result from the decomposition of the non-fatty con- 
stituents of butter. 

5. The most active agents bringing about deterioration of 
butter in cold storage appear to be cream with a high acid con- 
tent, the presence in cream and butter hi metals, such as cop- 
per and iron, and their salts, the air incorporated in the butter 
and bacteria and enzymes; though the influence of microorgan- 
isms is considered of indirect rather than of direct nature. 

6. In order to insure, with reasonable certainty, butter of 
good keeping quality, and minimum deterioration in commer- 
cial cold storage, the butter should be made from cream of good 
quality and low acidity, transported in cans that are free from 
rust, and handled in vats, pasteurizers and conduits properly 
tinned and the surfaces of which are kept bright and free from 
accumulations of oxidized or dissolved metal, the pasteurization 
should be thorough and preferably by the flash process at 176" 
F. or over, or the holding process at 145" F. for 30 minutes, the 



460 Butte;r Scoring 

butter should be worked in the normal way, avoiding over- 
churning and overworking and excessive incorporation of air, 
all equipment and rooms in the factory in which the cream and 
butter is handled and exposed should be kept clean, the butter 
should be packed and stored under approved conditions and 
should reach the cold storage with the least possible delay after 
manufacture. 

Chapter XVI. 
BUTTER SCORING. 

Definition. — The scoring or judging of butter refers to the 
examination of butter for flavor and aroma, body and texture, 
color, salt and package. 

Purpose. — The primary object of scoring butter is to de- 
termine, its quality and market value. The bulk of the butter 
that reaches the wholesale receivers, jobbers and commission 
men is scored and most of this butter is sold "over the trier" 
and paid for on the basis of the grade to which its score 
entitles it. 

Butter intended for storage usually is, and always should 
be, most carefully scored in order to ascertain its fitness for 
storage. Butter showing a weak body and tendency toward an 
oily, metallic or fishy flavor is unsafe to go into storage. Sucli 
butter is prone to become fishy or develop other storage flavors 
with age. Careful scoring before permitting its entrance into 
cold storage may save the owner from heavy loss at the end of 
the storage period. 

At butter scoring contests such as are held at County, State 
and National fairs and shows, the careful scoring of the butter 
judges and their criticisms and instructions, are often of great 
help to the buttermaker in his efiforts to eliminate butter defects 
and to improve upon his methods of manufacture. 

The butter should be scored not only by the buyer and the 
educational judge but by the buttermaker himself. He should 
have accurate knowledge of the c|uality of butter that leaves his 
factory and he can secure this knowledge only by carefully 
scoring each churning. This scoring should not be done at the 
churn, however, for the quality of the fresh butter at the churn 



BuTTKR Scoring 461 

is seldom a reliable index to the (iiiality of the butter when it is 
one or two weeks old. Most butter when perfectly fresh is 
palatable. Serious defects generally develop and "show up" 
with age. 

The Score Card. — The national score card adopted and used 
by the officials and butter men in all parts of the country is that 
contained in the rulings of the New York Mercantile Exchange 
and quoted in the chapter on "Markets and Marketing." 

Valuation of Butter Defects. — The prices paid for butter 
sold on the open market, are based fundamentally on the estab- 
lished classes of market grades, the chief of which are : "Extras," 
"Firsts," "Seconds" and "Thirds," and in commercial scoring 
the deductions for defects are generally so made as to place the 
butter into its respective grade. The exact scores for each 
grade vary somewhat with the condition of the market and the 
season of the year as determined by the Butter Committee of 
the Exchange. Thus the New York Mercantile Exchange rules 
provide that extras may score either 91, 92 or 93 points, as 
the minimum, at the discretion of the Butter Committee, who 
shall determine the required score from time to time in such 
manner that it shall represent an average fancy quality in the 
season when offered. But butter scoring more than required 
for "Extras" shall be deliverable on a contract for "Extras," 
etc. See rules of New York Mercantile Exchange. 

The minimum scores, for the several grades are as follows, 
with Extras at 91, 92 or 93 points: 

Extras at 91 92 93 



Firsts 87 88 89 

Seconds 82 83 84 

Thirds 7S 76 77 

In discussing the figure valuation of butter defects it will be 
assumed here that "Extras" require a minimum score of 92 
points. 

"Extras." — In order for butter to score "Extras," it must 
have a clean and pleasant flavor and aroma and it must be free 
from any undesirable ofT-flavors. Its color, salt and body 
must be perfect. Such butter would merit a flavor score of 37 and 
a total score of 02. Butter with a specially delicate flavor and 



462 Butter Scoring 

creamy texture, showing excellent quality of cream, may be 
given a flavor score of 38, 39, 40 or 41 points, or higher, or a total 
of 93, 94, 95 or 96 or higher, according to the pronouncedness 
of these desirable qualities. 

"Firsts." — iButter which is of clean flavor but lacks the char- 
acteristic delicacy of aroma, and is perfect in body, color and 
salt, is considered a good "Firsts," meriting a flavor score of 35 
to 36 points, or a total score of about 90 to 91 points. 

Butter with a slightly acid flavor and aroma, or that shows 
traces of weedy flavor or other slight flavor defects might still 
be classed as a "Firsts," with a flavor score of 33 to 34 points 
and a total score of 88 to 89 points, provided that it is perfect in 
body, color and salt. 

"Seconds." — Butter that shows slight rancidity, fishiness, 
oily or metallic flavor, garlic flavor, or yeasty flavor, is classed 
as a "Seconds," with a flavor score of 28 to 32 inclusive, and a 
total score of 83 to 87 inclusive, the exact score varying with 
the intensity of the defect. 

"Thirds." — Butter with a strongly rancid, tallowy, fishy, or 
other intense oft'-flavor is scored as "Thirds." 

Butter with a leaky texture or leaky or crumbly body 
would not be accepted as an "Extras." These defects would cut 
its score on body such texture from 1 to 3 points. If of clean 
flavor and perfect color, such butter might score a good "Firsts." 

Butter that is pronouncedly mottled is cut from 3 to 5 
points on color. If otherwise of good quality and clean flavor 
it would be classed as a "Firsts," 

Butter that is gritty and excessively salty may be cut from 
i/^ to 2 points on salt according to the intensity of the defect. 
Such butter usually has a coarse flavor. If it shows no distinct 
oft"-flavor, it may be classed as a "Firsts." 

In rare cases only is butter scored down on package, but 
it should be understood that the neatness and cleanliness of the 
package makes a favorable impression on the judge, while an 
untidy and soiled package tends to condemn the goods. 

Method of Scoring. — The scoring of butter is most conven- 
iently done by the use of a butter trier. A plug of butter is 
removed from the package by boring from top to bottom of 



Butter Scoring . 463 

the tub or cube, or from end to end in the case of the print. 
First the aroma is observed by passing the trier under the nose. 
Then the butter is tasted for flavor and salt by cutting with a 
clean knife or spatula, a small piece off the plug. Then the plug 
is examined for uniformity of color. The texture and body are 
examined for leakiness, crumbliness, stickiness and w^eak body. 
In the case of crumbly and sticky butter it is difficult to secure 
a solid plug, the plug is ragged and irregular and butter sticks 
to the back of the trier. In the case of leaky butter the brine 
runs freely, and in large drops, from the butter. A weak body 
refers to butter with a poor grain ; when the plug is broken the 
surface at the break resembles that of a tallow candle and the 
butter gives the impression of salviness. The color of such 
butter generally lacks brightness and life, it is dull. 

The Ethics of Butter Scoring. — It must be obvious to all 
who are interested in the dignity and standard of excellence of 
the butter industry that the sanitary and ethical aspect of butter 
scoring demands, that this work be done in a neat, cleanly and 
careful manner, and yet so many so-called butter judges ignore 
the most primitive dictates of decency in the scoring of butter. 
They do this work in slovenly manner, they pay no attention 
to the cleanliness of their- hands, they fail to wipe the trier 
clean before it is inserted in the butter, they try to ascertain 
the aroma by rubbing their nose into and wiping it on the butter, 
they determine the flavor by digging their teeth into a plug, 
and then replace this mutilated and desecrated butter into the 
package which is later offered for sale and consumption. Such 
performances are an insult to the dignity of the butter industry 
and a depredation to this most valuable and wholesome of food, 
butter. Nor do such practices denote expertness on the part 
of the judge. The flavor and aroma of butter are of delicate 
nature, their correct impression on the senses demands subtle 
and delicate handling. Pressing one's nose into the butter 
destroys the delicacy of flavor and aroma and dulls the senses. 
There is room for much improvement, especially in the cellars 
of the wholesale produce, in the ethics of butter scoring as now 
done, and this improvement will assist in convincing the laymen 
of the wholesomeness and superior virtues of butter as a food 
which the dairy interests claim for their product. 



46f . Butter Scoring 

The necessary equipment for performing the examination 
and scoring of butter in an approved manner, consists of a 
nickel-, tin- or silver-plated butter trier, a knife or spatula and 
clean cheese cloth or clean soft paper, such as tissue paper. 

Before commencing the work of examining the butter, the 
scorer should thoroughly wash his hands with soap and water. 
The trier should be wiped dry and clean. When the plug on 
the trier is examined for aroma, it should be passed under the 
nose without touching the nose. For tasting the butter a small 
piece of butter is removed from the plug with the knife or 
spatula. The uniformity or color can be seen without mutila- 
tion of the plug. Examination for leakiness and body and 
texture is best made by pressing the plug with clean thumb. 

When the examination is completed, the plug is neatly re- 
placed in the bore of the package by carefully returning the 
trier in the bore and withdrawing the empty trier. The surface 
of the package at the place of the returned plug is then evened 
up and smoothed over, not with the fingers, but with the trier, 
and the circle or wrapper is again replaced neatly. The trier 
and spatula are then wiped clean, not with the bare hands, but 
with the cheese cloth or paper, before the next package is 
examined. 

Accuracy of Butter Scoring. — It is said that expert butter 
judges are born and not made. This is true to a limited ex- 
tent. Expertness requires, above all things, a keen sense of 
taste and smell. Individuals deprived of an accurate sense of 
taste and smell lack the fundamental attributes that make for 
expertness in butter scoring. However, most persons possess 
these senses to a sufificient degree to be able to distinguish 
good butter from bad butter, and with a little practice 
they soon acquire the power to dififerentiate between the more 
pronounced flavors and odors. Aside from the natural and 
acquired ability to detect flavor and aroma, the butter judge 
needs knowledge, experience and judgment in determining and 
deciding on the correct valuation in terms of figure scores, of 
the flavors found in the butter, and these attributes are largely 
a matter of practice. Finally the butter judge must be a man 
of character, not given to superficial work and "bluff verdicts," 



Butter Scoring 465 

he must be conscientious, careful and able to decide for himself 
and, after deciding, to stand by his convictions. 

When more than one judge does the scoring, as is generally 
the case at educational butter scoring contests and county, state 
and national fairs, also in scoring experimental butter, each judge 
should work entirely independent of the other judges, there 
should be no expression of opinion, no comparison of notes, while 
the scoring is in progress and until each of the judges has com- 
pleted his work, otherwise the personal judgment of the individ- 
ual judge is jeopardized and is liable to be materially, though 
unknowingly, influenced, and this occurs usually to the detri- 
ment of the accuracy and fairness of the final score. After each 
judge has completed his scoring, then the judges may compare 
notes and rescore, for their own satisfaction, packages on which 
the scores of the different judges show considerable diversion. 
The average of the individually determined scores of the several 
judges promises results of maximum accuracy, and freedom from 
disturbing influences, of the final score awarded to each package. 

The Value of Educational Butter Scoring Contests.— With 

due allowance to the actual service these contests are often capa- 
ble of rendering, the judge through his criticisms giving the but- 
termaker valuable information that makes for improvement, it 
must be admitted that the lasting results of educational butter- 
scoring contests and the concrete usable information they ofifer. 
are often very meager and in a great many cases they do not 
justify the expense incurred. There are many reasons for this. 

The average butter judge is not a practical buttermaker. 
He lacks the full knowledge of the real problems which confront 
the buttermaker and he therefore falls short in his appreciation 
of the significance of these problems. In fact, even assuming 
that he is a capable judge of butter, which is by no means always 
the case, he has very little to oiTer to and a great deal to learn 
from the man whose butter he is scoring. Some of the informa- 
tion which he endeavors to convey to the buttermaker through 
his letter of criticisms is either not well founded or does not 
apply, and much of the remainder of the information given 
has long been a part of the buttermaker's knowledge , but 
local conditions, lack of sufficient energy, or other conditions, 



466 Butter Scoring 

have hindered him from putting this knowledge "across" in his 
factory. 

Again, the basis upon which the butter is scored at most 
of the scoring contests puts a premium on a very mistaken 
standard of excellence, that not only has no real commercial val- 
ue, but is a positive detriment to the success of the butter in- 
dustry. 

The ideal used as the basis for scoring has been that of 
butter with a highly developed butter flavor, and in their efforts 
to successfully compete, the buttermakers so ripened their cream 
and handled their butter as to cause it to possess as high a flavor 
as possible on the day of the contest. 

Elsewhere in this volume it is conclusively shown that butter 
so made has very poor keeping quality. It has reached the very 
limit of changes it is capable of undergoing, without actually 
deteriorating in flavor and any further changes, which it is bound 
to suffer with age, will cause it to develop off-flavors. The 
butter with high flavor which wins top scores and honors at 
these contests, therefore, has the ear-marks of butter that does 
not keep well and that, by the time it reaches the table of the 
consumer, may be anything but "prize butter." 

Since the consumer is the final judge of the value of butter, 
the butter must have such keeping property that it is able to 
withstand agencies of deterioration until it is consumed, and 
it is essential to the success of the butter industry that the 
buttermaker concentrate his knowledge and energy in this 
direction, rather than to manufacture butter that is a prize win- 
ner tomorrow and that "goes to pieces" thereafter. 

In some of the states the management of scoring contests, 
appreciating the significance of these facts, is effectively cor- 
recting this weakness, by either holding all contest butter for 
several weeks before the contest, or by rescoring a second time 
after an interval of several weeks. The results of scoring 
contests following this practice are bound to be fruitful of 
much real good, from the standpoint of assisting the butter- 
maker in his efforts to improve the commercial value of his 
butter. 

Finally, the conducting of educational butter scoring con- 
tests has much educational value in an indirect way. It is an 



BuTTUR De;fe;cts 467 

effective means to bring the buttermakers together, where 
they can discuss their problems and difficulties, where they 
have an opportunity to hear lectures and see demonstrations 
that give them new information, and where they can come in 
close touch with the dairy schools and their staffs. 

Chapter XVII. 
BUTTER DEFECTS. 
THEIR CAUSES AND PREVENTION. 

Classification of Defects. — This discussion is confined to the 
most important butter defects which are considered individually 
under the following few headings : flavor and aroma, body and 
texture, color and appearance. 

DEFECTS IN FLAVOR AND AROMA. 

Flat Flavor. — Butter termed flat in flavor lacks the delicate 
flavor and aroma characteristic of "Extras" and fancy butter. 
Its flavor lacks life. Such butter usually sells as "Firsts" on 
the market, provided that it has no serious defect otherwise. 

The flat flavor is usually due to washing excessively in cold 
water. Cold wash water has the power to absorb the flavor- 
producing volatile oils of the butter when in granular form. 
Excessive washing and prolonged exposure of the butter to 
the cold wash water, therefore, tend to leave the butter with- 
out much flavor, or flat. 

Occasionally butter is criticised as being flat in flavor 
simply because it is low in salt. The use of more salt brings 
out the flavor more pronouncedly. 

Butter made from sweet cream which was not subjected to 
the ripening process and to which no starter was added, is 
generally very mild in flavor and may be termed flat by those 
who desire a high-flavo^d butter. 

Stale Flavor. — The staleness and lifelessness of butter, 
termed stale, is usually due to the advanced state of the period 
of lactation. It is an off-flavor which is characteristic of butter 
made in winter when the cows are approaching the end of their 
lactation period. The cause here, as in flat-flavored butter, lies 
in the partial absence of the flavor-producing volatile and solu- 
ble fats, oils and acids. As the period of lactation advances, the 



468 Butter DfiPUCThi 

per cent of the flavor-producing elements decreases and is lowest 
at the time the cows are ready to go dry. Observant butter- 
makers know from experience that, when all their cream comes 
from stripper cows, their butter always has more or less of this 
stale flavor, and that the addition of but a few cans of cream or 
milk from fresh cows will make a wonderful improvement in 
the flavor of their butter. At the beginning of the period of 
lactation when the cows are fresh, as is generally the case in early 
summer, the milk contains the maximum per cent of volatile and 
soluble fats and acids and the stale flavor is entirely absent in 
butter made from such milk or cream. 

While the use of a good active starter generally assists in 
minimizing the stale flavor, it seldom will overcome it entirely, 
because the natural flavoring principles in the milk and cream 
which are necessary in order to secure the full benefit of the 
starter, are lacking or are present in insufiicient quantities in 
cream from stripper cows. Stale butter seldom grades "Extras." 

The stale flavor is frequently attributed also to old cream, 
or cream having been held too long before churning. In most 
cases of cream that has been held for a long time, however, the 
staleness is expressed by more specific off-flavors, resulting from 
fermentation, or absorption of odors from environment, and it is 
doubtful if the so-called stale flavor of butter can conclusively 
be traced to old cream. 

Sour, Curdy and Cheesy Flavor and Aroma. — This defect is 
characteristic of much of the butter that is made from high-acid 
cream, such as gathered cream and cream shipped long distances. 
The sourness is noticeable particularly in the odor or aroma of 
the butter. If otherwise perfect such butter usually scores a poor 
"Firsts" or a good "Seconds." It is rejected by the critical trade 
and is unfit for storage as it tends to deteriorate rapidly. 

The sour flavor and aroma are usually largely due to cream 
that arrives at the creamery in very sour condition. It may be 
avoided by neutralizing the cream and thorough washing out 
of the buttermilk. Frequently sour butter is the direct result 
of overripening" the cream, or starter, or both, and of leaving too 
much buttermilk in the butter. Attempts to produce high- 
flavored butter by only slightly washing the butter and causing 



Butti;r Defects 469 

it to have a milky brine tend toward the development of a sour 
flavor and aroma. 

High buttermilk content, overripe cream and starter and 
similar agencies are responsible also for curdy and cheesy flavors 
which often accompany the sour flavor, or take its place. They 
are due directly to the curd content of the butter. This class 
of flavor defects is characteristic of hot weather butter and 
especially of butter made from sour, farm separator cream dur- 
ing the summer season. It will appear as long as the creamery 
accepts a poor quality of cream, but may be minimized by 
neutralization, pasteurization, the use of a good quality of starter 
and expulsion of buttermilk by thorough washing. 

Unclean Flavor. — This is a rather general term and yet it 
represents, in the vocabulary of the butter judge, a definite flavor 
condition of the butter. Butter with an unclean flavor lacks 
the clean, delicate, pleasant, aromatic butter flavor. Its taste 
suggests the use of unsanitary utensils and methods of handling 
the cream, such as unclean strainers, especially cloth strainers ; 
foul smelling cans, especially cans that are not washed clean, or 
that contain dirty wash water due to incomplete rinsing, or that 
were not thoroughly steamed and dried after washing and 
rinsing; unclean farm separators, as the result of not removing 
all remnants of milk, cream and separator slime after each 
separation, or not washing the separator after each separation ; 
unclean and leaky vats, pipes and conveyors, churns and pack- 
ers ; and unclean milk and cream and polluted wash water. 

The unclean flavor is imparted to butter in two ways, by 
direct incorporation in milk, cream and butter, of decayed rem- 
nants of milk with foul smelling odors and indirectly by the 
contamination of the product, through these channels, with pu- 
trefactive bacteria, yeast and molds, thriving in decaying rem- 
nants of milk and developing products of putrefaction in the 
cream and butter. 

Unclean flavor in butter can be prevented by using clean 
utensils for the production and handling of milk and cream on 
the farm, returning to the farmer clean, sterile and dry cream 
cans, and keeping the equipment in the creamery in sanitary 
condition. 



470 BuTTKR Defects 

Cowy and Barny Flavor. — Butter with a cowy flavor sug- 
gests contamination with manure and stable air. This flavor oc- 
casionally is very pronounced, especially in some species of dairy 
butter, in which case the butter usually scores a poor "Seconds." 
The cowy flavor may be due to milking cows whose udders and 
flanks are plastered with manure, the handling and exposure of 
milk and cream in unventilated stables, and not removing the ani- 
mal heat from the milk or cream promptly. 

The milk and cream wiiich produce butter with a cowy or 
barny flavor are generally contaminated with large numbers of 
Bacillus coli communis and Bacillus coli aerogenes. These or- 
ganisms are the natural inhabitants of the colon, or large in- 
testine of the animal, and are therefore found abundantly in the 
manure. The abundant presence of these bacilli in milk and 
cream is rather conclusive evidence of the pollution of milk and 
cream with excreta from the cow. When milk and cream so con- 
taminated are not promptly cooled these germs multiply rapidly 
and intensify the barny odors in the butter. For details see 
Chapter IV on Care of Milk and Cream on the Farm. 

Musty and Smothered Flavor. — This butter defect is gener- 
ally caused by lack of prompt cooling and aeration of the cream 
on the farm. The sealing up of the warm cream in the shipping can 
without giving it any opportunity to give ofif its animal heat is 
generally believed to cause a musty, smothered flavor. The stor- 
ing of the cream in damp and poorly ventilated cellars with a 
stagnant atmosphere is another probable cause of musty flavored 
butter. The cause of musty flavor frequently also lies in the 
feeding of moldy, musty and decayed foods, such as moldy hay, 
moldy silage and musty grain. 

Feed and Weed Flavors. — To this group of butter flavors be- 
long a variety of flavors characteristic of the feeds to which the 
cows have access. Many of these flavors are not very pronounced 
and therefore not seriously objectionable, but others are very 
marked and in some instances greatly depreciate the market 
value of butter. 

Since the feed flavors are usually traceable direct to the charac- 
teristic feeds producing them, or to excessive feeding of certain 
types of feeds, or to microorganisms with which certain feeds are 



Butter Df;fe;cts 471 

associated, their prevention must of necessity lie with the pro- 
ducer of milk and cream. The flavors due to weeds such as gar- 
lic, rag weed, etc., can be guarded against only by eradication of 
these weeds from the pasture. See "Garlic Flavor." 

Roots, such as turnips, are best fed after milking in order to 
give the feed time to pass through and out of the cow several 
hours before the succeeding milking. 

Feed flavors caused by frozen, decayed and moldy feed are 
prevented by eliminating from the ration all feed not in good. 
sound condition. Sour, moldy silage, frozen and decayed roots 
and tops of roots, damp, moldy and poorly cured hay. damp and 
musty straw, etc., should not be fed to dairy cows. 

While most of the feed flavors are inherent in the milk and 
cream which contain them and therefore follow these products 
into the butter and while their appearance in the jputter is beyond 
the control of the great majority of creameries, many of these 
flavors, not including the garlic flavor, and rag weed flavor, are 
greatly minimized by pasteurization and aeration of the cream. 
Pasteurization assists in driving and expelling from the product 
volatile flavors, odors, and gases and thus helps to lessen the in- 
tensity of these flavors in the finished butter. 

Garlic or Wild Onion Flavor. — When the wild onion tlaxor 
has once impregnated the milk or cream, it is very difflcult to keep 
this objectionable flavor out of the butter, and butter made from 
such milk or cream usually grades a poor "Seconds." It may be 
improved materially, however, by blowing air through the milk 
or cream while hot and by prolonged pasteurization at a high 
temperature. Ayres and Johnson^ demonstrated that milk and 
cream can be freed from the wild onion flavor entirely by ade- 
quate blowing, while these raw materials are hot. These investi- 
gators contrived a blowing equipment for blowing milk and cream 
on a small scale, with which they were able to entirely remove 
the onion flavor from milk heated to 145° F for five minutes. For 
cream they recommend a somewhat longer period of blowing and 
a temperature of 160° F. Their work was done with sweet cream 
testing 30% fat. It is probable that for richer cream and for 
cream that is sour, the apparatus devised would have to be modi- 



^ Ayres and Johnson, Removal of GarUc Flavor from Milk and Cream. 
U. S. Dept. of Agrr., B. A. T. Farmers' Bulletin 608, 1914. 



472 Butte:r De;f^e;cts 

fied somewhat to prevent clogging and to insure more complete 
aeration. The usual equipment and method employed for this 
purpose in the crearhery are quite inadequate for complete re- 
moval of garlic flavor in sour cream. They fail to furnish the 
volume of air necessary for successful results. 

Because of the difficulty of even minimizing the garlic flavor 
in butter made from garlic-flavored milk or cream, and the im- 
possibility, under practical commercial c<Miditions, of remo\'ing 
this flavor from the once tainted product, entirely, every effort 
should be made to keep this flavor out of the milk on the farm. 
There are two ways to accomplish this, namely, to prevent the 
cows, so far as possible, from obtaining garlic and secondly to 
manage the herd on garlic pasture in such a manner as to have 
it sufl^er the least harmful efifect.^ 

Garlic makes a growth much earlier in the spring than pasture 
grasses, and therefore is usually most troublesome when cows are 
first turned to pasture and when grass is not plentiful. In many 
cases garlic is localized in the pasture and these places should be 
fenced ofif and used for pasturing stock other than milk producing 
cows. 'When the garlic is scattered about the fields it is impos- 
sible to do so, and the dairyman who would not have the flavor 
of the milk of his cows impaired must so manage his herd as to 
overcome the difficulty. The unpleasant odor and flavor are 
strongest in milk from cows that have just eaten the garlic. If, 
three or four hours before milking, the cows are placed in a 
garlic-free field, the trouble will be reduced to a minimum. If 
such a field is not available, they may be brought to the stable 
yard and fed on silage or hay and allowed to remain out of doors 
until the regular milking time. This practice the dairyman can 
usually follow without serious inconvenience. 

The trouble caused by garlic is not liable to last long, as the 
weed is usually cropped ofif by the cows within a few days after 
they are turned to pasture, and as soon as the grass becomes plen- 
tiful they will eat that in preference. 

However in years when the season opens slowly so that the 
pastures fail to satisfy the cows with an abundance of grass for a 
considerable period of time, garlic-flavored cream may occur for 



1 Hoard's Dairyman, November 18, ]918. 



BuTTUR Djcfkcts 473 

many weeks. In the fall also there is a tendency in some sec- 
tions for this flavor again to appear. 

The complete eradication of the garlic plant is the most satis- 
factory method of avoiding trouble and is practicable on the or- 
dinary dairy farm. Those interested in such eradication should 
write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, for 
Farmers' Bulletin 610, entitled, "Wild Onion; Methods of Eradi- 
cation", and Farmers' Bulletin 608, which gives directions for re- 
moving the garlic flavor of milk. 

MOLDY BUTTER 

The genuine moldy flavor of butter is usually due to the pres- 
ence and growth in cream and butter of certain species of molds. 
Frequently storage butter," that has reached an advanced stage of 
deterioration, develops a very marked disagreeable moldy odor 
and flavor. 

Causes of Mold Spots on Butter. — The greatest objecticn of 
moldy butter, however, does not lie in its objectionable flavor, 
but rather in the appearance on and in the butter of mold specks 
and spots which render it unsightly and cause much loss to the 
creamery and the butter dealer. 

This butter fault is especially prevalent in summer and usually 
shows up in the course of a few days after manufacture. Whole- 
sale receivers practically every summer complain of moldy butter. 
They find the butter to be spotted with mold specks of a greenish- 
brown to black color. These specks are located largely on the 
surface of the butter, especially in the lower sections of the butter 
tub. In aggravated cases the mold specks penetrate the butler to 
a considerable depth and frequently they permeate the entire 
tub. Even if butter scored an "Extras" in all other points, moldy 
butter would be classed as a "Seconds" and would be sold by the 
dealers as such at a great sacrifice in price. The difficulty and 
trouble of removing all traces of mold from moldy butter is 
great and expensive. Much butter is wasted, new tubs and 
liners have to be supplied, and much labor is required. Upon 
storage at not very low temperature butter occasionally be- 
comes completely coated with a matting of molds. The fila- 
ments often grow so long that the surface is actually bearded. 



474 Butter iDivFECTg 

Unsalted butter is much more prone to become moldy than 
salted butter, the salt exerting a considerable retarding, if not in- 
hibiting, effect on mold growth. In fact, it is frequently very 
difficult to prevent unsalted butter from showing moldiness, in 
spite of the observance of otherwise successful and effective 
precautions. 

There are numerous classes and species of molds tliat are capa- 
ble of developing mold spots on butter, such as Penicilium, Tri- 
chosporium, Streptothrix, Cladosporium oidium. Griepenberg^ 
who examined storage butter, found that most of the molds in 
butter belonged to the genera Penicilium and Trichosporium and 
that of these, Penicilium cruslaceum and Trichosporium collae 
were the most common species. Penicilium glaucum and oidium 
lactis are also known to be very common molds of butter. 
Most of these organisms thrive on the caseous matter of the 
butter and some are also capable of splitting the butterfat. 

According to Thom and Shaw,- mold in butter usually takes 
three forms : 

"1. Orange-yellow (red) areas with a submerged growth of 
mycelium, which are produced by Oidium lactis. Cannot develop 
in butter containing 2.5% of salt. 

2. Smudged or dirty-green areas, either entirely submerged 
or with some surface growth. These are produced by species 
Alternaria and Cladosporium. Cannot develop in butter con- 
taining 2.5% salt. 

3. Green surface colonies, which are produced by Penicilium, 
or more rarely, Aspergillus, either upon the butter, causing de- 
composition, or upon the container or wrapping, injuring the 
appearance of the sample in the market." 

The natural channels through which Initter becomes contam- 
inated are infection of milk and cream on the farm, and con- 
tamination of cream or butter in the factory, from the air in ill- 
ventilated plants, from unclean vats, pipes, churns and packing 
equipment, from impure starters and impure washwater, and 
from mold-infected material used for packing, such as parchment 
wrappers and liners, and butter tubs and boxes. 



^ Griepenberg-, Pleischmann, Lehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft, p. 324, 1915. 
= Thom and Shaw. Moldines.<; in Butter. Jour. Agr. Research, Vol. Ill, 
No. 4, 1915. 



Butter Defects 475 

Proper pasteurization materially minimizes the tendency of 
butter to become moldy. It is destructive to the majority of the 
species of molds usually found in the cream. ^ Pasteurization 
therefore limits the problem of preventing moldy butter very 
largely to precautions against recontamination of cream and but- 
ter after the cream leaves the pasteurizer and confines it to the 
sanitary condition of the air, vats, pipes, pumps, churns, wash- 
water and packing equipment and material. 

Moldy butter has in some instances also been traced to con- 
taminated salt. 

The most probable cause of the salt as a source of moldy 
butter lies in the contamination of the salt in the creamery after 
the barrel is opened. In many creameries the salt is kept in a 
room none too clean and in an atmosphere none too pure. If 
the barrel is left open the surface of the salt is prone to become 
contaminated with germ life of the air and may become the 
carrier of mold. The salt barrels should be stored in a clean 
place and a properly fitting cover should be provided for rem- 
nant barrels. Such barrels should be covered immediately after 
each removal of salt. 

Prevention of Mold in Butter. — Moldiness in butter may 
best be prevented by observifig the following precautions : 

1. Pasteurize all cream, skimmilk and starter used. In 
vat pasteurization heat to at least 145° F. and hold not less than 
30 minutes. In flash pasteurization heat to 180 to 185° F, When 
using the holding process draw a pailful of cream from the gate 
of the vat as soon as the temperature of the cream reaches 145° 
F. and pour it back into the vat. This will insure proper heating 
of the cream located in the gate and nipple. 

2. Use pure starter only. If the starter is contaminated 
reject it. 

3. Thoroughly wash, flush and steam all vats, pipes, con- 
duits and pumps daily. 

4. Rinse the churns daily with one batch of hot water 
containing some good washing powder and then with clean hot 
water. The water must have a temperature of 180° F. or over. 
Use thermometer to make sure. Lime the churns at regular 



^ Thom and Ayres — Effect of Pasteurization on Mold Spores. Jour. Agr. 
Research, Vol. VT, No. 4, 1916. 



476 Butter Defects 

intervals, preferably once per vv^eek, or whenever they show 
signs of staleness. Churns that have been lying idle should 
always be limed and receive a special cleaning and scalding 
before they are pressed into service again. The churn is the 
most difficult piece of equipment to keep clean and sweet, and 
it represents one of the most dangerous sources of moldy butter. 

5. Do not wash packing equipment, such as packers, ladles, 
cubes and tubs, in dirty water. Rinse them thoroughly with 
scalding hot water after washing and store them in a clean, dry 
atmosphere. 

6. Wash the butter thoroughly to remove as much as pos- 
sible of the curd of the buttermilk. Curd is a necessary food for 
molds to grow on. Use pure wash water. Have the wash water 
tested bacteriologically at reasonable intervals and if it contains 
molds pasteurize or filter it. If a wash water storage tank is 
used it should be kept clean and free from slimy material by 
frequent scrubbing out. 

7. Keep the salt in a clean, dry place. Do not break the 
seal of the barrels until necessary. Keep remnant barrels 
covered. 

8. Do not store cubes, tubs and parchment liners and 
Avrappers in a damp room. Keep them in a clean, dry at- 
mosphere and keep the parchment wrappers and liners in their 
original package until used. 

9. Properly paraffin all tubs and boxes. Heat them over 
the steam jet until they are "piping" hot before paraffining and 
use boiling paraffin only. Do the paraffining as short a time 
as possible before the tubs are used and keep them inverted in 
a clean place after paraffining and before use. 

10. Soak parchment wrappers, liners and circles from 5 
to 10 minutes in boiling hot saturated brine before use, both 
for salted and for unsalted butter. 

11. Incorporate the moisture in the butter properly. Wet, 
leaky butter assists in the spread of mold colonies. 

12. Pack the butter solidly, avoiding air pockets, espe- 
cially between the butter and the sides of the tub. Air favors 
mold growth, 



BuTTKR De;fe;cts 477 

13. Store the butter in a clean, dry room and keep the 
temperature as low as possible. Molds grow best in a moist 
atmosphere and at a temperature around 50 to 60° F. 

14. iVIake the butter from cream of low acidity (.3% acid 
or below). Molds prefer an acid medium for growth. 

15. Keep the air in the creamery well ventilated and the 
sewers and floors well scrubbed. A stagnant, impure atmo- 
sphere is often pregnant with mold spores. 

16. Spra}' the walls, ceilings and floors of butter storage 
rooms with formaldehyde, at reasonable intervals. Do not per- 
mit the appearance of mold specks on walls and ceilings. 

For additional directions for the treatment of liners and 
wrappers see Chapter XII on "Packing Butter." 

Yeasty Flavor and Foamy Cream. — This flavor is the re- 
sult of a yeast fermentation of the cream. It is most preva- 
lent in summer, particularly during the hottest summer weather, 
when both, the days and the nights are hot and when the cream 
is exposed to the summer heat for a considerable length of 
time. Yeasty flavored butter seldom scores better than a "Sec- 
ond." It represents a very objectionable flavor defect which 
no now-known process of nianufacture is capable of entirely 
removing. Nor does it disappear while the butter is held in 
cold storage. This flavor stays in butter until the butter is 
consumed. 

Yeasty cream, therefore, should be culled out at the cream- 
er}^ by rigid grading, and churned separately, if it is accepted 
at all. The adoption and practice of an efficient .'System of cream 
grading and paying on the basis of quality is the creamery's 
most effective immediate weapon to minimize receipts of yeasty 
cream, accompanied by a systematic effort to acquaint the 
farmer with the fact that the reason why he received a lower 
price was that the cream was yeasty, and by instructions of 
how to best avoid the recurrence of this defect. 

The fundamental cause of yeasty and foamy cream "lies in 
the presence in cream of yeast cells. Most, if not all, cream 
contains some yeast cells, but at moderate or low temperatures 
they fail to gain the ascendency and therefore do not develop 
a yeasty flavor in the cream nor cause the cream to foam: 



478 Butter Defects 

Yeast cells require a relatively high temperature, approach- 
ing that of the animal body, for their greatest development. 
When on the farm, or in transit, or both, the cream is exposed 
sufficiently long to summer heat, so that the cream itself be- 
comes warm, the development of the yeast cells becomes very 
pronounced and very intense. Often it is accompanied by vio- 
lent gas production, frequently causing the lids of the cans to 
blow off and the cream to foam over. In this condition the 
cream gives ofif a very decided and objectionable yeasty flavor 
similar to baker's yeast, that follows the product into the fin- 
ished butter. 

If the cream is cooled promptly and properly on the farm 
when it leaves the separator and is kept cool until shipped, it 
usually reaches the creamery before it has a chance to become 
yeasty and foamy. On the other hand, if the cream is not 
cooled on the farm, the yeast cells become active at once and 
when this fermentation has once commenced, it goes on rapidly 
and is stopped with difficulty only. 

It is obvious also that the number of yeast cells present 
in the cream to start with, has a great deal to do with the rapid- 
ity and extent to which this defect develops. Contamination 
of the cream through such channels as impure water, unclean 
utensils, unclean separators and cans, should be avoided as 
much as possible, and the cream producer should be instructed 
to pay close attention to the following precautions : 

Prevention of Yeasty and Foamy Cream. 

1. Wash and scald all milk utensils, such as strainers, 
pails, dippers, cans, etc., after each use. 

2. Wash and scald all parts of the cream separator that 
come in contact with milk and cream, after each use. 

3. Cool the cream as soon as it leaves the separator to as 
low a temperature as possible, preferably below 60° F. 

4. Use a cream cooling tank and keep the cream in cold 
water until it leaves the farm. 

5. Protect the cream cans in transit from summer heat by 
covering them with wet blankets. 

6. Do not allow the cans to stand on the station platform 
exposed to the sun in hot weather. 



Butter Defects 479 

7. Deliver or ship the cream often. 

In the case of the cream station system of receiving cream, 
cream that may have arrived at the cream station in good condi- 
tion, frequently is yeasty and foams over by the time it reaches 
the central creamery. In this case the yeasty defect is largely 
due to faulty handling of the cream at the cream station. 

In order to avoid this the cream, after it has been trans- 
ferred to the shipping cans, should be set in cold water or in 
a cold room and held there until shipping time. 

If, during hot weather, cream arrives at the creamery at 
a time too late for "dumping" on the same day, the cans should 
be rolled into the cooler, in order to prevent the development 
of foamy cream over night. 

Bitter Flavor. — The bitter flavor of butter is a defect, which 
is confined largely to dairy butter. Its occurrence in creamery 
butter is comparatively rare. The bitter flavor is either present 
in the milk at the time it is drawn or it develops in the milk or 
cream after milking. In either case it passes also into the 
butter. 

There are individual cows when in poor physical condition, 
or when they have reached an advanced state of their period of 
lactation, usually after the sixth month, that yield milk that has 
a bitter taste. In many of these cases of bitter milk, the milk 
is abnormal also in other respects. Often the milk is very 
viscous and produces cream that refuses to churn out; the but- 
ter usually has a poor texture and is greasy. In some instances 
this bitter milk does not curdle in the natural way. The exact 
cause of this condition has not been satisfactorily determined. 
Weigmann^ suggests the probability that the peptonizing of the 
milk proteids may yield bitter-tasting albumoses and peptones, 
but he also mentions the possibility of the presence in such milk 
of special bitter substances. Whether these lower forms of 
milk proteids, the albumoses and peptones, are the result of 
abnormal physiological action of the cows and are therefore 
inherent in such milk, or whether they are due to bacterial ac- 
tion by udder microorganisms, is also a matter not experi- 
mentally determined. According to Weigmann certain species 
of the coli and aerogenes groups of bacteria, also Bacterium 



1 Weigmann — Mykologle der Milch, 1911, p. 132. 



480 Butter Defects 

Zopfii and Bacterium lactis innocuum, are capable of making- 
milk bitter. Jensen^ reports Streptococcus casei amari as a 
cause of bitter milk. Harrison- discovered a lactose-fermenting 
yeast, which he gave the name Torula amara, that produced a 
bitter flavor in milk and cheese made in Canada. This organism 
produced an intense bitter flavor in 14 hours. His investigation 
show^ed that this yeast grows on the leaves of maple trees and 
contaminated the milk by being blown from maple trees into 
the milk cans which stood under these trees on the farms. It 
was necessary to steam these cans very thoroughly in order 
to destroy this germ. Conn, Burri, Duggeli, Freudenreich. 
Govini and others^ report numerous peptonizing microorgan- 
isms which are capable of rendering milk and butter bitter. 

Bitter milk and butter frequently also are the result of cer- 
tain feeds and weeds to which the cows have access, among 
these we find lupines, rag weed, beet tops, rye pasture (ex- 
cessive), raw potatoes, and especially many classes of decayed 
and moldy feed stufTs, and moldy bedding, moldy oat and barley 
straw. 

Butter may also derive its bitter flavor from the use of 
chemically impure salt, especially salt containing relatively 
large amounts of magnesium salts or calcium chloride, or both. 

Butter made from sour cream that has been overneutralized, 
or improperly neutralized, especially when lime is used as a 
neutralizer, is prone to show a bitter, limy, or so-called neutral- 
ized flavor. For proper neutralization which will reliably pre- 
vent bitterness from this source see Chapter VII on Neutral- 
ization. 

Oily Flavor. — Causes of Oily Flavor. — Oily flavor of but- 
ter is a frequent occurrence in creameries receiving sour cream, 
pasteurizing at a high temperature and cooling by turning the 
cream over a surface cooler. Butter which has an oily flavor 
gives the impression of having, and generally does have, in- 
ferior keeping quality. Experience has shown that such but- 
ter, when in storage often, though not always, develops other 
and more objectionable flavor defects, such as metallic flavor 



^ Orla Jensen. Die Bakteriologie der Milchwirtschaft, p. 82. 

2 Harrison. Landwlrtschaftliches Jahrbuch der Schweiz 14, 1900. 

* Weig'mann. Die Myl^ologie der Milch, 1911. 



Butter De;fects 481 

and fishy flavor. The oily flavor is more prevalent in butter 
made in summer than in winter. Oily butter is not suitable for 
storage. It usually scores a "Seconds." 

The specific reactions which produce oily-flavored butter 
are not well understood, but it is known from practical ex- 
perience that high temperature pasteurization and the use of 
a surface cooler for cooling the hot pasteurized cream, are 
prone to produce an oily flavor in butter. This is especially the 
case with cream that is excessively sour at the time of pasteuriza- 
tion. The pasteurization of very rich cream and of cream that 
has been much diluted with water also tends to make butter 
oily. Overworking of the butter under certain conditions has 
a similar effect. 

The oily flavor has also been attributed by some investi- 
gators to bacterial action. Jensen^ isolated an organism be- 
longing to the group of sour milk bacteria, which was capable, 
aside from curdling the milk into a solid clot in 24 hours, to 
produce an unpleasant odor and taste resembling that of ma- 
chine oil. The oily flavor was transmitted from the cream in 
which it developed to the butter. Others'- claim that oily but- 
ter is due to the action of microorganisms that decompose the 
fat, such as Oidium lactis, yeasts and liquefying bacteria. To 
what extent specific microorganisms are directly responsible for 
the oily flavor in butter is uncertain, but it is quite possible 
that they assist in bringing about such combinations of condi- 
tions as are conducive to the development of oiliness and there- 
by may become indirectly responsible for this defect. 

The oily flavor of butter occassionably may be due to 
causes other than those pertaining to the process of manu- 
facture. It has at times been found to be caused by the print- 
er's ink on the butter carton. In this case the oily flavor is 
usually especially pronounced on the surface of the print while 
the interior of the butter may be practically free from this 
defect. 

In the case of cartons with heavy, solid coloring, that are 
inclined to transmit to the butter an oily flavor, the danger can 
be greatly minimized, if not entirely prevented, by allowing 

1 RusseU — OutUnes of Dairy Bacteriology, 1902, p. 158. 
* MarshaU — Microbiology, 1911, p. 343. 



482 Butter Defects 

the cartons to dry out, either by aging them or by aerating 
them in a warm room, preferably with the aid of forced air cir- 
culation, or both. It is advisable to store all printed cartons in 
a dry room and preferably in a moderately warm atmosphere. 
This hastens the aging and drying of the ink and the expulsion 
of ink odors detrimental to the flavor of the butter. 

Prevention of Oily Flavor. — In consideration of the above 
observations concerning the causes of oily flavor in butter, at- 
tention to the following points may serve to overcome this de- 
fect or to avoid its recurrence : 

1. Do not flash pasteurize cream that is high in acid. If 
the cream cannot be secured in sweet condition, standardize 
its acidity to about .25% acid before pasteurization. If this is 
not possible, use the vat or holding process of pasteurization. 

2. Do not dilute cream with water. Instead of rinsing the 
cream cans with water to reclaim the remnants of cream they 
contain, blow these remnants of cream out of the cans with 
steam, inverting the cans over steam jets. 

3. Use as little water as possible when rinsing cream and 
foam out of forewarmers and vats. It would be preferable to 
use skimmilk instead of water for this purpose. If the cream is 
too rich, containing above about 33% fat, dilute it with sweet 
milk, skimmilk, condensed milk or dissolved skimmilk powder. 
This adds solids not fat to the cream and assists in protecting 
the fat globules against mutilation during pasteurization. Stand- 
ardize all cream to about 33% fat before the cream is pas- 
teurized. 

4. Do not run the flash pasteurizer at excessive speed. 
Use a machine of such capacity that crowding it is unnecessary. 

5. Do not expose the hot cream, while cooling, excessive- 
ly to air and light. In the place of a surface coil cooler, use 
a cooler which protects the hot cream against these agents. If 
no such cooler is available run the cream from the flash pas- 
teurizer direct into the vats and do all the cooling in the vats, 
preferably with the covers partly down. 

6. Do not overwork the butter. Regulate its moisture con- 
tent by proper adjustment of the churning temperature, rather 
than by an effort to reincorporate water into too firm butter 
by overworking. 



Butter Deflects 483 

7. Use butter cartons only that are incapable of transmit- 
ting to the butter an oily flavor. 

Metallic Flavor. — By metallic flavor is generally under- 
stood a semblance in flavor to the astringent, puckery and 
metallic flavor, characteristic of the taste of metallic salts, such 
as are formed by iron, copper, zinc, etc., in acid solutions. 

This flavor defect is not always sharply defined, often be- 
ing accompanied by other, more or less pronounced off-flavors. 
Frequently it borders on oiliness, then again it approaches fishi- 
ness and occasionally it appears to be a nuance of tallowy 
flavor. 

Causes of Metallic Flavor. — ^While direct contact with 
metals and high acid in cream are undeniably essential and 
fundamental factors in the production of metallic flavor in but- 
ter, they do by no means always produce this defect. 

This fact suggests that the metallic flavor, similar to the 
fishy flavor in butter, is the result of a combination of condi- 
tions, of which all the necessary elements are not as yet def- 
initely known. 

Slight variations of the factors making up this combination, 
or slight variations in the extent to which the individual ele- 
ments of the combination are present, appear to make wide dif- 
ferences in the exact flavor defect produced. The result may 
be the characteristic metallic flavor, or it may be an oily flavor, 
a fishy flavor, or a tallowy flavor, etc. 

Thus experimental results of the writer show that under 
the majority of conditions, the presence of traces of such metals 
as iron or copper or their salts, in butter made from sour cream, 
causes such butter to develop a metallic or a fishy flavor, while 
the presence of the same metals, or their salts, in butter in 
which the acid has been completely neutralized, will produce 
a tallowy flavor. 

Since it is evident that traces of metals or metallic salts 
are an integral part of the combination of conditions that results 
in metallic flavor in butter, it is obvious that the condition of 
the utensils and equipment in which the milk and cream are 
handled and in which butter is manufactured, exerts a far- 
reaching influence on the production or prevention of metallic 
flavor. 



484 Butter Defects 

Thus the use of rusty utensils on the farm, the holding and 
shipping of the cream in rusty cans, the use of forewarmers, 
pasteurizers, coolers, vats, pipes and conduits, etc., in which 
the copper has become exposed and especially where the cop- 
per surface is not scoured thoroughly and regularly and is per- 
mitted to accumulate verdigris, furnishes a logical basis for the 
development of metallic flavor. 

Both iron and copper are most active in the presence of 
acid forming metallic salts. Therefore, this flavor defect occurs 
most prominently in butter made from cream that reaches the 
creamery in sour condition and is churned sour. Because of 
this fact, metallic flavor is generally more prevalent and more 
pronounced in summer than in winter butter, the cream con- 
taining more acid during the hot weather than during cold 
weather, although metallic flavor is by no means confined to 
summer butter, and may appear at any time of the year. 

Flash pasteurization, combined with the use of the sur- 
face coil cooler for cooling the heated cream, further invites 
metallic flavor, partly because the action of the sour cream in 
the presence of heat, air and light on the metal surface of the 
cooler, is intensified, and partly because this method of cool- 
ing may result in oily butter, which is often a forerunner or 
preliminary stage of metallic flavor. 

For similar reasons, rich cream (cream testing over 33% 
fat), and cream that is excessively diluted with water, tends to 
cause butter to develop metallic flavor. As explained under 
"Oily flavor," such cream contains a relatively low per cent of 
solids not fat and its viscosity is slight. This robs the cream 
of the protecting influence of the solids not fat, the fat globules 
are subjected to excessive mutilation during flash pasteurization 
and yield more readily to the oxidizing influence of heat, air and 
light, to which they are exposed, while the hot cream runs over 
the surface cooler. 

The ripening and holding of the sour cream in the copper 
vats and similar equipment for a prolonged period of time, 
such as holding it over night in vats with profusely exposed cop- 
per, may lend additional impetus to the development of metallic 
and similar oflF-flavors in butter, accelerating the action of the 
acid on the metal, and the oxidizing and catalizing action of 



Butter Defects 485 

the metallic salts on the ingredients of the cream and possibly 
enhancing also bacterial and enzyme action. Furthermore, in 
most vats several metals are exposed to the cream, so that it is 
not improbable that this bimetallic submersion in the acid of the 
cream, gives rise to a slight galvanic current, producing electro- 
lytic action which naturally hastens the formation of metallic 
salts. 

Finally, the churning of cream with a high acid content 
augments the acid content of the resulting butter and this 
furnishes an additional essential factor in the combination of 
conditions which cause metallic flavor. 

Attempts to attribute the metallic flavor to the presence 
in the cream of specific bacteria or groups of microorganisms 
experimentally, have proven abortive. While bacteria, through 
their power to decompose portions of the ingredients of cream 
and butter, forming acid and other cleavage products, may 
assist to a limited extent in the production of metallic flavor, 
they cannot be considered as the specific cause of this defect. 

Nor is the fact that the metallic flavor often does nbt appear 
in the fresh butter, but develops after a considerable period of 
storage, necessarily indicative of bacterial origin. A careful 
study of the available data dealing with the causes of this but- 
ter defect emphasizes the complexity of the combination of 
factors and conditions responsible for the metallic flavor and 
the wide variations in the rapidity with which this defect de- 
velops. On the basis of the bulk of evidence it appears reason- 
able to attribute metallic flavor to chemical action. 

Prevention of Metallic Flavor. — According to our present 
limited lights on this subject, the most consistent means to 
prevent metallic flavor in butter is : 

1. To use rust-free cream shipping cans and to return to 
the farmer cans only that are clean and properly rinsed and 
steamed and thoroughly dried. 

2. To keep forewarmers, pasteurizers, coolers, vats, etc., 
well tinned, to thoroughly scour exposed copper surfaces, keep- 
ing them bright and free from verdigris, and to flush the entire 
system each day before use with hot water, thus removing any 
water it may contain and which may have absorbed metallic 
salts. 



486 Butter Defects 

3. To protect hot pasteurized cream from air and light by 

cooling under cover. 

4. To avoid excessive dilution of cream with water and to 
standardize all cream before pasteurization to about 33% fat or 
below with skim milk or milk, and to about .25% acid by the use 
of a suitable neutralizer, in the case of sour cream. 

5. To not permit the cream to lie in the vats for an 
abnormal period of time and to churn it at an acidity of about 
.3% or below. Especially should cream not be held over night 
in improperly tinned copper vats. 

Fishy Flavor. — The fishy flavor is a defect especially com- 
mon with storage butter, though fishiness in fresh butter and 
butter only one to three weeks old, is by no means a rare occur- 
rence. Fishiness is a very serious butter fault, objectionable to 
most consumers and one which greatly depreciates the market 
value of the product. Fishy butter is shunned on the open mar- 
ket. It seldom grades above a poor "Seconds." 

Causes of Fishy Flavor. — Milk, cream and butter may be- 
come fishy in flavor when kept in close proximity to fish, in 
which case the dairy product absorbs the odor. The possibility 
of tainting butter from this source is pretty generally under- 
stood and recognized. In Great Britain and Ireland the law 
requires railway companies to provide separate cars for the 
carriage of fish and butter. 

Again, the fishy flavor of butter may be due to the cow 
herself. Weigmann^ reports a case where an individual cow 
which received the same feed and care as the rest of the herd, 
persistently produced a fishy milk. The fishy flavor of her milk 
was so marked that when mixed with the milk of the remainder 
of the herd, the mixed milk also became intensely fishy in flavor. 
In another case a cow produced milk with a fishy flavor only 
during the hot summer weather. TTiis investigator further 
states that in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, the opinion prevails 
that cows yield fishy milk when they pasture in the marshes 
which are periodically flooded by the tide and on the grasses 
of which small crabs and other sea fauna dry and decay. Lew- 
kowitsch^ also reports that fishy butter is met with in Norway, 

^ Welgmann — Mykologrie der Milch, 1911, p. 124. 

" Lewkowltsch — Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats and 
Waxes, Vol. II, 1914, p. 798. 



Butter Defects 487 

being obtained from cows fed on fishmeal. In contradiction to 
the above, Weigmann writes that even in the case of intensive 
feeding of herring meal or whale meal neither the milk nor the 
butter show signs of fishiness. 

Harding, Rogers and Smith^ investigated the cause of fishy 
flavor and odor in milk brought to the New York State Experi- 
ment Station by a milk dealer. This fishy taint was so pronounced 
that the milk was of no commercial value, although coming from 
a dairyman of more than ordinary carefulness in the handling 
of his herd. They found that the defect was confined to the milk 
of one cow that was fed on the same feed and received the same 
care as the other animals in the herd. This cow was apparently 
in normal condition. Bacteriological study of her milk revealed 
no microorganisms capable of producing the fishy flavor. 

Pififard^ suggests that the salt, owing to its ability to absorb 
odors and flavors of material in close proximity, may occasionally 
be responsible for fishy butter. This is improbable, the salt has 
the power to intensify flavors but it does not readily absorb 
flavors. The same author holds that frequently fishy butter 
may be due to impure water with objectionable flavor, to which 
the cows may have access and which he attributes to the devel- 
opment of diatoms and algae, notably the Oscillaria. 

These cases of mechanical absorption by milk or butter of 
the fishy flavor, or of fishy flavor caused by an abnormal condi- 
tion of the cow or the milk, are comparatively rare. The great 
majority of causes of fishy-flavored butter on the market is due 
to causes, deeper seated, more complex and more difficult to 
prevent. The seriousness of the defect and the difficulty of 
avoiding it are augmented further by the fact that the fishy flavor 
of most of the commercial butter does not show up at the churn. 
In aggravated cases it may develop within the first few weeks 
after manufacture, but in the great majority of cases it develops 
while the butter is in cold storage. 

The earlier studies of fishy flavor in butter and its causes, 
dealt largely with eflforts to discover specific bacteria or other 



* Hardingr, Rogers and Smith. Notes on Some Dairy Troubles. New York 
State (Geneva) Agr. Exp. Sta. BuU. 183, 1900. 

' Piflfard. Fishy Flavor in Butter. New York Produce Review and Am. 
Creamery, Vol. 13, No. 20. 1901. 



488 Butter Defects 

micro-organisms capable of producing this flavor. O'Callaghan^ 
attributes fishiness in butter to the mold Oidium lactis. He 
claims that this organism when grown in conjunction with Bacil- 
lus acidi lactici in cream produces fishiness invariably. 

Harrison- classes the fishy flavor of butter with bitter, putrid 
and lardy flavors, the causes of which he attributes to the pres- 
ence and growth of undesirable microorganisms in the cream. 
Jensen^ found certain species of yeast that give butter a fish}^ 
flavor, Klein,* speaking of oily, fishy and tallowy butter, holds 
that all these butter defects may well be considered specific 
forms of rancid butter, resulting from the action of bacteria. 
Hammer^ isolated from a can of evaporated cream, which had de- 
veloped a fishy odor, a bacillus of the Proteus group, which he 
named Bac. ichthyosmius. With this organism he was able to 
reproduce the fishy odor in milk, cream and evaporated milk. 
When inoculated into butter, either direct, or into sweet or sour 
cream, the butter failed to show fishy odor or flavor. 

The later studies and observations relating to the causes of 
fishy butter indicate that the direct cause of fishy flavor and odor 
in commercial butter is attributable to chemical action rather 
than to bacterial development. Fleischmann^ states that fishy 
and oily flavor is a butter defect which appears only in butter 
made from sour cream, that it shows itself as an augmen- 
tation of an aroma characteristic of this class of butter, carried 
to the point where it becomes offensive to taste, and that it 
is caused by certain species of bacteria which develop in the 
cream during souring and associatively with the lactic acid 
ferments. 

Rogers^ found that in all cases where butter became fishy, 
the butter was made from high acid cream, both in the case of 
acid produced in the cream by bacteria, and of acid in the form 



1 O'Callaghan — "Cause and Remedy of Fishy Flavored Butter." The Agr. 
Gazette of N. S. Wales. Vol. 12, p. 341, 1901. 

O'Callaghan — "Butter Classification.' The Agr. Gazette of N. S. Wales, 
Vol. 18, p. 223, 1907. 

O'Callaghan^ — "That Fishy Flavor." Chicago Dairy Produce, April 25, 
1916, p. 8. 

2 Harrison — "Defects in Butter." Twenty-seventh Annual Report On- 
tario Agr. Exp. Sta., p. 79, 1901. 

3 Jensen — Die Bakteriologie der Milchwirtschaft, 1913, p. 24. 
* Klein — Milchwirtschaft, 1914, p. 238. 

s Hammer — Fishiness in Evaporated Milk. Iowa Research Bui., 1917. 
e Fleischmann — Lehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft, 1915, p. 322. 
'' Rogers — Fishy Flavor in Butter. U. S. Dept. Agr., B. A. I. Circular 
146, 1909. 



Butter Defects 489 

of lactic acid and acetic acid added to sweet cream, although 
cream with high acid did not uniformly develop fishiness. He 
further states that overworking of butter produced fishiness 
with a reasonable degree of certainty. He offers the opinion 
that fishy flavor is caused by a slow, spontaneous, chemical 
change to which acid is essential and which is favored by the 
presence of small amounts of oxygen, and that it may be pre- 
vented with certainty by making butter from sweet cream; also 
that butter made from pasteurized cream with a starter but 
without ripening seldom, if ever, becomes fishy. 

In a subsequent publication, dealing with results on the 
Manufacture of Butter for Storage, Rogers, Thompson and 
Keithley^ show still more conclusively the freedom from fishiness 
in butter made from unripened pasteurized cream, and the ten- 
dency of butter made from ripened, raw or pasteurized cream to 
become fishy in storage. 

Dyer-, as the result of a chemical study of fresh and stored 
butter, concludes that ''the production of oflf-flavors" so com- 
monly met with in cold storage butter (and of which the fishy 
flavor is a very prominent one) is attributable to a chemical 
change expressed through a slow oxidation progressing in some 
one or more of the non-fatty substances occurring in buttermilk. 
The extent of this chemical change is directly proportional to 
the quantity of acid present in the cream from which the butter 
was prepared. Dyer further emphasizes that the development 
of undesirable flavor in butter held in cold storage at a tempera- 
ture of 0° F. is not dependent upon an oxidation of the fat itself^ 

The writer's experience has been fully in accord with the 
findings of Rogers and Dyer, to the efifect that high acid cream 
and overworking of butter are conditions favorable to the devel- 
opment of fishy butter. Fishy butter is very closely related to 
oily and metallic butter. It appears to be the result of a com- 
bination of certain factors, one of which is high acidity and 
another a weak body of butter due to overworking, which 
destroys the grain and excessively exposes the butter to the 
action of air. Other factors may embrace the presence in the 



1 Rogers, Thompson and Keithley — The Manufacture of Butter for Stor- 
age, U. S. Dept. Agr., B. A. I. BuHetin 148, 1912. 

- Dyer — Progressive Oxidation In Cold Storage Butter. Jour. Agr. Re- 
search. Vol. VI, No. 24, 1916. 



490 Butte;r Defects 

cream and butter of metallic salts, such as iron and copper lac- 
tates, which act as oxidizers and catalizers, and the presence in 
the cream and butter of diverse ferments and their products. 
Prevention of Fishy Flavor. — In order to minimize the 
danger of butter going fishy before, during and after cold storage, 
attention to the following phases of manufacture is recom- 
mended: 

1. Secure as fresh, sweet and unfermented cream as pos- 
sible. Systematically grade the cream for quality and churn 
first and second grade separately. 

2. Use only non-rusty cans that are thoroughly cleaned, 
rinsed, steamed and dried before they are returned to the farmer. 

3. Keep the copper surfaces in forewarmers, pasteurizers, 
coolers and vats well tinned, do not permit exposed copper sur- 
faces to become coated with verdigris, wash all forewarmers, 
pumps, pasteurizers, coolers, vats and conduits thoroughly each 
day and flush them out again with hot water immediately before 
use the next day. 

4. If the cream arrives at the creamery sour, neutralize 
it to about .25% acid. 

5. Do not dilute cream with water. If cream is too rich, 
standardize it to about 33% fat by the addition of sweet milk or 
sweet skimmilk. 

6. Pasteurize all cream, but do not run the heated cream 
over an open surface cooler. Protect it against excessive ex- 
posure to the air and light. 

7. Churn the cream with an acidity of .3% or below. 

8. Do not overwork the butter. 

Tallowy Flavor. — This butter defect refers to butter which 
has a distinct taste and odor of spoiled tallow. Tallowy butter 
is usually, but not always, bleached in color, and may be en- 
tirely white. Very old tallowy butter may change to a pinkish 
brown color. Tallowiness is a defect which renders butter 
utterly unfit for the market. 

Butter may, and frequently does develop a tallowy flavor 
and odor and a bleached color within a few weeks of the date 
of manufacture, though this defect usually requires from three 



Butter Defects 491 

to six weeks to become pronounced under commercial condi- 
tions of handling butter. Tallowiness is not a usual cold stor- 
age defect of butter. In commercial cold storage, butter seldom 
goes tallowy. This defect develops primarily in 'butter lying 
in stores and exposed to rather high temperatures (room tem- 
perature). Tallowiness is more prevalent in print butter than 
in tub butter. The tallowy flavor and the bleaching start on the 
surface of the butter and gradually work into its interior. But- 
ter may have turned very tallowy and perfectly white on its 
surface, while the core of the package may still have the nor- 
mal yellow color, and be free from the tallowy flavor. 

Causes of Tallowy Flavor. — Tallowiness, similar to ran- 
cidity, is due to a decomposition of the butterfat. These two 
flavor defects often occur in the same piece of butter and have 
frequently been confused, or considered synonymous. This con- 
fusion is unfortunate, inasmuch as it has led to misleading in- 
terpretations lof experimental results, rendering difficult the 
establishment of their true causes and hindering efforts in- 
tended toward their prevention. 

A careful study of the causes of tallowy butter shows that, 
unlike rancidity, which is the result of hydrolysis of the fats, 
tallowiness is due to oxidation. 

On the basis of our present knowledge^ relating to tallowy 
butter, the causes and prevention of this defect may consist- 
ently be summarized as follows: 

1. Oxidation the Cause of Tallowy Butter.— The butter 
defect known as tallowy odor and flavor is the result of a 
process of oxidation. The oxidizing action may, or may not, be 
on the fat, according to agencies and conditions favoring the 
oxidation, as outlined in succeeding paragraphs. 

2. Exposure to Air, Light and Heat. — Air readily brings 
about oxidation of the fat in butter, and this oxidation is 
greatly intensified in the presence of light and heat. Butter 
so exposed is prone to rapidly develop a tallowy flavor. This 
fact is well known to the layman. Tallowiness, caused through 
these channels, is comparatively rare, because the great bulk of 
commercial butter is guarded against these agents. The wrap- 

1 Hunziker and Hosman, TaUowy Butter, Its Causes and Prevention. 
Journal of Dairy Science. Vol. T., No. 4. 1917. 



492 Butter Defects 

pers and cartons of print butter and the liners and paraffined 
tubs and cubes of bulk butter, protect the butter against exces- 
sive exposure to air and light. While the butter remains in the 
creamery, it is usually kept at a temperature considerably be- 
low that at which heat alone is capable of producing tallow- 
iness. Butter intended for immediate consumption (within 
one to three weeks) does not become tallowy, even at ordinary 
ice box temperature, such as it is exposed to in the store and 
in the home, unless it contains other agents that cause tallow- 
iness. The bulk of the butter going to the tropics is packed in 
hermetically sealed tin cans, excluding the air and light and 
thereby greatly minimizing the action of heat. Butter intended 
for prolonged storage, rarely develops tallowiness, because the 
low temperature of commercial cold storage sufficiently retards 
the action of air and light. Although under present commercial 
conditions of manufacture and handling of butter, air, light 
and heat are improbable causes of tallowiness, their importance 
should not be ignored and every efifort should be made to pro- 
tect butter against these agents. 

To run the hot pasteurized cream over a surface coil coolerj 
located near windows with transparent panes or with open 
sash, where it is exposed to the direct sunlight, and possibly 
to air currents ; to keep the pasteurizing vats open during th6 
entire process of heating, holding and cooling; to work butter 
on an open table near the window, and to expose the butter 
in the print room and later in storage excessively to air, light 
and heat, are dangerous practices, which jeopardize quality and 
may readily lead to tallowy flavor in butter. 

3. Presence in Cream and Butter of Metals and Metallic 
Salts. — Oxidizing agents, such as metals and their salts, are 
capable of turning butter tallowy in a very short time, i hese 
agents act as oxygen carriers or catalizers. Iron and copper 
and their salts, also the alloys of copper, such as brass and 
German silver, belong to this class. The copper, copper salts, 
and the alloys of copper are the most active metals, metallic salts 
and alloys that enter into the problem in commercial butter- 
making. Iron oxide also has specific catalytic action which 
aids the oxidation process, while in the case of iron bases and 



Butter Defects 493 

salts the action is relatively slight. Nickel and tin are practi- 
cally negative in this respect and do not produce tallowy flavor 
in butter. 

Most of the equipment used in the handling of cream and 
the manufacture of butter is constructed of iron or copper, usu- 
ally originally coated with tin. When this tin coating wears 
off, as it always does to a greater or less extent, the iron or 
copper becomes exi^osed, and often the exposed iron is permitted 
to rust and the exposed copper allowed to become coated with 
verdigris. In this condition, these metals are most active, con- 
siderable portions being dissolved by the acid in the cream and 
thereby not only act in the cream, but also find their way into 
the butter, jeopardizing its quality and inviting the development 
of tallowy flavor. 

This danger can best be minimized, if not entirely avoided, 
by furnishing the farmer with bright and non-rusty cans and 
by preventing the cans from rusting, by systematic and thor- 
ough washing, rinsing, steaming and drying; keeping weigh 
cans, forewarmers, pasteurizers, coolers, pumps and pipes and 
conduits well tinned, thoroughly cleaning and steaming them 
after each day's use and flushing them with hot water each 
morning before circulating the cream, so as to remove any 
remnants of water of the previous day which may be pregnant 
with metallic salts; removing the rust from all parts of the 
packing and printing equipment and using wrappers and liners 
only which are free from metallic specks. Water used for 
washing butter should be free, or nearly so, from iron. 

4. Presence in Butter of Excess Lactose. — The presence in 
butter, in excess, of specific compounds which are themselves 
readily oxidized may yield tallowy flavor, as one of their oxida- 
tion products. To these compounds belong lactose, glucose and 
glycerol. Danger from these products need be considered only, 
however, when the cream or butter is subjected to alkaline con- 
dition, as shown in the succeeding paragraph. When butter 
is made under proper conditions, and containing a normal 
amount of acid, the presence of lactose and similar compounds 
has no injurious eflfect on its flavor and does not, in itself, con- 
stitute a cause of tallowy butter. In fact, the addition of lac- 



494 BUTTEIR Dei^Ects 

tose to butter, when in normal acid condition, may have a 
slight preservative effect, improving its keeping quality. 

5. Neutralization. — The presence of an unnatural alkaline 
condition of the butter, or of the cream from which the butter 
is made, accelerates any oxidizing action by rendering the 
compounds capable of oxidation, more susceptible to oxidation. 

Over-neutralization with any alkali very greatly intensifies 
the oxidizing action of all the foregoing agents and hastens the 
development of tallowiness. This can be permanently pre- 
vented only by careful standardization of the entire operation of 
neutralization, including the testing of cream for acid, the prep- 
aration of the neutralizer and its addition to the cream. Guess 
work in neutralization is one of the most potent causes of tal- 
lowy butter. The butter should further be protected against 
direct contact with alkalies, by the complete removal from 
churns, cubes and diverse packing equipment, of all traces of 
alkaline wash water, and by the use of parchment wrappers 
that are free from alkali, such as ammonia, which is used to 
neutralize the sulphuric acid employed in the parchmenting 
process. 

Storage Flavor. — Where butter is held for any considerable 

length of time in storage, it gradually surrenders some of its 
delicate flavor and aroma which is characteristic of good fresh 
butter, and develops a peculiar flavor known to the butterman 
as the storage flavor. In butter of good quality this change 
takes place very slowly and is for a long time hardly perceptible. 
Rogers^ reports that, in examining some millions of pounds of 
butter made and stored for the U. S. Navy Dept., sweet cream 
butter, almost without exception, kept through several months' 
cold storage with only slight changes in flavor. In butter of in- 
ferior quality the storage flavor generally develops rapidly. 

Other conditions being the same, the rapidity with which the 
storage flavor develops depends largely on the temperature of 
storage and on the time and temperature at which the butter 
is held before it enters cold storage. The lower the tempera- 

1 Rogers, Factors Influencing Changes in Storage Butter. Address at the 
Third International Congress of Refrigeration, Washington-Chicago, 1913. 



Butter Defects 495 

ture of cold storage and the shorter the time that elapses be- 
tween manufacture and cold storage, the longer will the butter 
generally retain the desired aroma and flavor of fresh butter. 

The exact cause of this flavor and the nature of the decom- 
position products responsible for it have not been conclusively 
demonstrated. Experimental data suggest that this flavor is 
principally due to spontaneous chemical changes, in which 
oxidation plays an important part and that this oxidation is 
accelerated by the presence of catalyzers in the form of metallic 
salts. Butter made from a poor quality of cream, such as cream 
that has yielded excessively to fermentation and that is of high 
acidity, develops storage flavor and its derivatives most rapidly. 
It is not improbable also that the storage flavor represents a 
forerunner, or early stage, of other off-flavors which under favor- 
able conditions may supersede it in the form of metallic flavor, 
or fishy flavor, etc. 

Rancid Flavor. — Rancidity is a very common and Veil 
known butter defect. The rancid or strong flavor is a charac- 
teristic infirmity of old butter. When present to a pronounced 
extent in butter, such butter is no longer salable as "eating" 
butter and generally has to be disposed of as packing stock 
at a great sacrifice in price. 

Cause of Rancid Flavor. — Rancidity is a flavor and odor de- 
fect that is due to decomposition of the butterfat. It is char- 
acteristic not only of spoiled butter or butterfat, but is a common 
decomposition product of all fats and oils, animal and vegetable. 
The chemistry of the reactions yielding rancid flavor and odor 
is not well understood, though it has been the subject of ex- 
tensive investigations for many years. 

In the case of butter, rancidity, and especially the initial 
phase of rancidity, appears to be due to hydrolysis of the butter 
fat, which splits the glycerides of the fats into free fatty acids 
and glycerol. This hydrolysis is in all probability due very 
largely to bacterial and mold action, since the casein and lac- 
tose contained in butter furnish the food elements necessary for 
the bacteria to thrive on. 

The hydrolysis of the fat leading to rancidity, however, is 
not necessarily dependent on micro-organisms. It may be 



496 Butter Deifects 

brought about in pure butter fat and other fats which do not 
contain bacterial life, by enzymic action in the presence of mois- 
ture. Air, light and heat, and the presence of catalizers, such as 
acids and alkalies, favor the development of rancidity. 

In the case of butter, however, it is conceded by the best 
authorities that bacteria and molds are the chief factors that 
hydrolize the fats, making the butter rancid. Jensen^ and Kirch- 
ner' demonstrated that certain species of micro-organisms, very 
commonly present in butter, are capable of hydrolizing the fat 
in butter to a very marked degree and of producing butter with 
an intense rancid odor and flavor. The chief of these organisms 
are Oidium lactis, Cladosporium butyri, Bacillus fluorescence 
liquefaciens and Bacillus prodigiosus. Lewkowitsch^ suggests 
the possibility that even in the case of rancidity produced by 
these micro-organisms, the hydrolysis may be due to enzymes 
produced by them rather than by their direct action on the fat. 

It is generally accepted that in butter the rancid flavor and 
odor are due to the presence of the free fatty acids resulting from 
hydrolysis, and it is well known that especially the volatile fatty 
acids, such as butyric, etc.. have a pungent odor that resembles 
the rancid odor and flavor of butter. The free fatty acids re- 
sulting from fat hydrolysis are expressed as, and determined by, 
the acid value of the fat. The acid value would therefore ap- 
pear to be a logical and correct measure of the degree of ran- 
cidity of the butter. And in a great many cases rancid butter is 
accompanied by a high acid value, as Jensen has shown. 

However, there is a vast volume of experimental data on 
record which shows that quite often butter may have intense 
rancidity while the acid value of the fat from this butter shows 
no appreciable increase over the acid value in fat from the 
same butter when fresh, and instances are also recorded where 
a relatively high acid value was not accompanied by a pro- 
nounced rancid character of the butter. In fact the fat of per- 
fectly fresh butter shows a considerable acid value. 

It is therefore quite probable that even in the* case of butter. 



* Jensen — Ueber das Ranzlgwerden der Butter, Landw. Jahrb. d. Schweiz. 
1901. 

^Kirchner — Berichte d. deutsch. botan. Gesellschaft, 1888, p. 101. 

' Le-w-kowitsch — Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fats and 
Waxes, Vol. I ,p. 53 ,1914. 



Butter Defects 497 

hydrolysis is only the initial phase of rancidity and that either 
the free fatty acids, or the glycerol, or both, undergo further de- 
composition yielding products which produce and intensify ran- 
cidity in butter, and this further decomposition must of neces- 
ity be an oxidation. 

In the case of the saturated fatty acids, the action would be 
only very slight and if at all, it would probably be of enzymic 
nature. The unsaturated fatty acids, of which the oleic acid 
is representative, yield more readily to oxidation. They may 
be oxidized forming fatty acids of higher molecular weight, 
such as acids of the hydroxy series. Or they may be broken 
down to acids of lower molecular weight, forming various fatty 
acids such as pelargonic. azelaic acid, etc., which may produce 
or intensify the rancid odor and flavor. Also aldehydes formed 
by the breaking down of oleic acid may play a part in the pro- 
duction of rancidity ; this possibility, however, Lewkowitsch does 
not consider probable. That the oxidation of the free fatty acids 
plays a considerable role in the production of rancid butter, is 
therefore very probable, and is emphasized by the fact that 
exposure of the butter to air, especially in the absence of re- 
frigeration, and in the presence of light which intensifies oxida- 
tion, greatly hastens the development of rancidity. Allen^ also 
holds that oxygen and light play a considerable part in the 
chain of factors instrumental in the production of rancidity. 

Again it is possible that the free glyverol, resulting from the 
hydrolysis of the fats, and which in itself is neutral, odorless 
and tasteless, may yield to oxidation, forming acids and alde- 
hydes, many of which have a very pungent odor resembling ran- 
cidity. Browne^ attributes the pungent, irritating odor which 
all rancid fats give off, especially on being warmed, to the de- 
composition (oxidation) of free glycerol, forming acrolein. He 
found a decrease in the percentage of glycerol of all fats when 
they become rancid, the decrease being proportional to the ran- 
cidity of the samples. 

Furthermore, the lactose of butter, upon oxidation, may 
assist in the development of products, similar to those result- 

1 AUen, Commercial Organic Analysis, Vol. II, 1912, p. 313. 
- Browne. A Contribution to tlie Chemistry of Butterfat, Jour. Amer. 
Chem. Soc. Vol. 21. 1898. 



498 BuTTE^R Defects 

ing from the oxidation of glycerol and thereby constitute a fac- 
tor tending toward the production, modification or intensification 
of the rancid odor and taste. The small amount of lactose nat- 
urally present in commercial butter, however, must of necessity 
limit the power of this butter constituent as an important agent 
in this respect. ^ 

In the presence of our now available information concern- 
ing the reactions responsible for rancidity in butter, as briefly 
outlined in the foregoing paragraphs, the following summary 
may serve to bring out the most important facts and proba- 
bilities. 

1. The initial stage of rancidity in butter lies in the hydro- 
lysis of the butterfat. This produces free fatty acids which, 
when present in considerable amounts, produce a strong rancid 
taste and odor. 

2. The hydrolysis of the butterfat is brought about by 
bacterial and mold action, or by enzyme action, assisted by cat- 
alizers such as acids and alkalies, and in the presence of water 
and exposure to temperatures higher than those of commercial 
refrigeration of butter. 

3. The rancidity of butter may be greatly intensified by the 
oxidation of the free fatty acids, or of the free glycerol, or both. 
The action is greatly hastened by exposure of the butter to air, 
light and heat. 

4. Lactose, upon oxidation, may also assist in the forma- 
tion of products yielding rancidity. 

5. The curd in butter assists in the development of ran- 
cid flavor insofar as it furnishes desirable nutrients for the ran- 
cidity-producing organisms to thrive on. Butter with a high 
curd content, other factors being the same, therefore is more 
prone to become rancid than butter with a low curd content. 

It should be understood that rancidity is the result of pro- 
gressive changes in butter and that most butter, if kept long 
enough, will ultimately become rancid with age. However, the 
development of rancidity and the postponement of this common 
butter defect may be controlled with a reasonable degree of suc- 
cess, by so handling the cream in its production and the butter in 
its manufacture and storage, as to minimize, if not eliminate 



Butte;r Defects 499 

entirely, the agencies which are known to contribute towards 
the appearance of rancid flavor and odor in butter. Attention 
to the following points will assist towards the prevention of 
rancidity in butter. 

Prevention of Rancid Flavor. — 1. Elimination of bacteria 
and mold from butter. The fresher and sweeter the cream and 
the greater its freedom from objectionable bacteria and mold 
and from their products, and the freer the butter from curd, the* 
better will such butter withstand decomposition which results 
in rancidity. 

2. Proper pasteurization of the cream and thorough wash-r 
ing of the butter with pure water greatly lessens the tendency 
of butter to become rancid. Pasteurization destroys the germs 
capable of producing rancid butter. Thorough washing removes 
much of the curd and therefore reduces the necessary foo4 
available for rancidity-producing microorganisms. Farm-made 
butter usually develops rancid flavor and odor very rapidly. 
because it is made from raw cream teeming with germlife and 
usually contains excessive buttermilk. Storage butter made dur- 
ing a pasteurization experiment under the direction of the author^ 
did not develop rancidity when made from pasteurized cream ; 
raw cream butter when made from ungraded gathered cream 
almost invariably became rancid, while raw cream butter made 
from selected gathered cream did not show much rancidity in 
storage. This emphasizes both, the value of pasteurization and 
the importance of careful grading of cream. The housewife in 
many European countries, who purchases a year's supply of cook- 
ing butter (Schmelzbutter) melts and boils it until the curd, 
water and other non-fatty constituents have settled out and the 
fat has become clear. This fat is stored in a cool place (the 
cellar) in crocks, covered with parchment, and keeps almost in- 
definitely (until used up) without showing signs of rancidity. 
These illustrations emphasize that rancidity can be greatly de- 
layed by removing germ life and the food on which micro- 
organisms thrive. Efficient pasteurization, and thorough wash- 



1 Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills, Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream, Produce Bulletin 208, 1918. 



500 Butter Defects 

ing of butter accomplish this to a large extent, provided that 
recontamination of cream and butter is avoided by sanitary con- 
ditions of vats, churns and packing equipment and proper treat- 
ment of tubs, cubes, liners and wrappers. 

3. Protection of the butter against air, light and heat, and 
the absence in it of catalizers, such as metallic salts, high acid, or 
alkali, will minimize the action of rancidity-producing agencies 
which may be present in butter. Churn the cream at a low 
acidity, do not overneutralize and put the butter in the sealed 
package, and refrigerate it, as promptly as possible after manu- 
facture. 

Woody Flavor. — This is not a very common flavor defect 
of butter, though "epidemics" of woody-flavored butter have 
occurred, causing serious objection on the market. 

The most common cause of butter with a woody flavor is 
probably the churn. New churns that have not been properly 
treated before use, may impart to butter a woody flavor. Churns 
also that are in unclean condition, or the wood of which has 
become decayed, may become infested with certain species of 
microorganisms, especially molds, that are capable of giving the 
butter a woody taste. Such conditions are especially liable to 
happen with churns that are not in daily use, giving the micro- 
organisms an opportunity to work into the cracks between the 
staves and also into the pores of the wood, where they are diffi- 
cult to be reached, dislodged or destroyed, and where they form 
a continuous source of contamination of succeeding batches of 
cream and butter. A case of this type, resulting in woody-flav- 
ored butter, was noted and investigated at Purdue University^ 
The churn that produced the woody flavor was used only once 
per week. Investigation showed that the woody flavor was due 
to a mold lodged in the cracks of an apparently clean churn. 
This mold produced the same intense woody flavor when inocu- 
lated and propagated in sterile milk. For treatment and disin- 
fection of churns see "Preparation of Churn," Chapter X. 

Salt, packed in barrels of decayed and infected wood, is also 
known to be capable of transmitting to butter a woody flavor. 

1 Hunziker and Switzer. Results not published, 1916. 



Butter Defects 501 

Butter packages, such as tubs, cubes and cartons made of wood 
which naturally harbors an intensive woody odor, always lend 
butter a woody flavor. Hence, pine tubs, boxes and cartons are 
entirely unsuited for packing butter, while spruce, white ash, 
hemlock, etc., well cured and dried and when properly soaked 
before use, are generally free from this objection. 

However, even si)ruce and white ash tubs may give butter in 
storage a pronounced woody flavor. In such cases the woodi- 
ness is usually confined to the surface of the butter at the bot- 
tom and side, the interior remaining free from it. The flavor 
at or near the outside, however, is frequently intensely woody 
and pound prints cut from the outer portions of such butter may 
be practically ruined from the standpoint of the market. 

When butter is stored in tubs made from well seasoned, 
sound lumber of white ash or spruce, and when they are prop- 
erly treated before packing, the danger from woodiness is very 
remote. But when the tubs are made up of a poor grade of 
lumber, and especially of pithy staves, or lumber that is green 
and has not been well seasoned and dried, or lumber felled while 
still in sap, the woody odor is very intense and there is great 
danger of woody flavor in butter. 

This danger can be minimized, if not entirely overcome, by 
soaking the tubs over night in brine, preferably hot brine, and 
by drying and heating them thoroughly over a steam jet before 
paraffining, so that the paraffine will soak well into the wood, 
forming a uniform and complete coating that will permanently 
stick and not peel ofif. For further directions see "Preparation 
of Butter Tubs," Chapter XII. 

Cooked or Scorched Flavor. — As the name implies, this 
flavor is the result of exposure of the product to heat. It does 
not often appear in raAv cream butter, but is a frequent defect of 
butter made from pasteurized cream. It is generally due to 
heating to excessively high temperature or to prolonged exposure 
to the heat, or improper application of the process of pasteur- 
ization. It is probably the direct cause of the action of heat on 
the caseous matter of the cream. 

Most of the butter made from pasteurized cream has a slight 
pasteurized, or cooked flavor when fresh. This slight cooked 



502 Butter Defects 

flavor, however, disappears in a short time. Only a strong 
cooked flavor is permanent in butter and is therefore objection- 
able. 

Crowding the pasteurizer and the consequent use of too 
much steam pressure is a common cause of cooked flavor. When 
pasteurizing under such conditions, the caseous matter in the 
cream that comes in direct contact with the overheated heating 
surface becomes scorched and bakes on to the heating surface. 
The scorching of the cream on the overheated coil of the 
pasteurizer is also very often the cause of the scorched flavor. 

When butter made from raw cream has a cooked flavor, the 
cause usually lies in overheating the coil in the forewarmer, by 
forcing steam through it excessively. In this case the coil usu- 
ally becomes heavily coated with a layer of burnt cream. It is 
advisable to heat the coil in the forewarmer with hot water 
instead of steam, in order to avoid the cooked flavor in butter. 

The cooked flavor is occasionally confused with the oily 
flavor, which is also a frequent characteristic of butter made 
from improperly pasteurized cream, as explained under "Oily 
Flavor." The two flavor defects have nothing in com- 
mon, neither in their origin, nor in their relation to the market 
value of the butter. The oily flavor is a serious butter defect 
which is generally indicative of poor keeping quality. The 
cooked flavor is not seriously objectionable, nor does its pres- 
ence unfavorably reflect on the keeping quality of the butter. 

Coarse Flavor. — This is a rather indefinite and general ex- 
pression of butter flavor. It refers to butter that lacks the char- 
acteristic delicacy of flavor of good butter, though the butter 
may have no specific "ofif-flavor." Butter with a coarse flavor 
is usually the result of high acid cream, or overripened cream 
or overripened starter and excessive salt. The combination of 
high acid and high salt seems to be particularly favorable for 
the production of this so-called coarse flavor, and the presence 
of undissolved salt crystals further intensifies this defect. 

Butter, the flavor of which is termed coarse, is generally not 
looked upon with favor on the open market. If it shows no other 
specific defect it usually grades as a poor "Firsts." Its keep- 
ing quality is considered questionable, if not unreliable. 



Butter Dee'Ects 503 

DEFECTS IN BODY AND TEXTURE. 

Properly made butter has a firm body and a waxy texture. 
The body and texture of the butter are controlled by the char- 
acter of the butter fat and the churning temperature jirimarily, 
and by the conditions incident to the churning, washing, salt- 
ing and working of the butter. The character of the butter 
fat is largely determined by its chemical composition and the 
size of the fat globules, factors which in turn are controlled by 
breed, period of lactation and feed of the cows, as explained 
fully in the chapter on the "Conditions which xA.fTect the Churn- 
ability of Cream," Chapter X. 

Weak-Bodied Butter. — Such butter lacks a firm, solid body 
that will stand up well under unfavorable temperature conditions. 
It softens quickly upon exposure to temperatures of about 65° F. 
and above. It also is prone to show excessive leakiness. But- 
ter with a weak body is usually the result of too high a churn- 
ing temperature, or not holding the cream at the churning tem- 
perature long enough before churning". It may be due also to 
overworking, especially when excessively soft. 

The fundamental cause of a weak body generally lies in the 
fact that the cream from which the weak-bodied butter is made 
was never sufficiently cooled to adequately chill and harden all 
the butterfat, especially those fats that have a relatively low 
solidifying point. The butter from such cream then contains 
a mixture of fats, all of which have not been congealed and some 
of which are still in a liquid or semi-liquid state. Under these 
conditions the mixed fat, representing the butter, lacks firm- 
ness, it is "weak," and its mechanical stability readily collapses 
when the butter is exposed to room temperature, or to higher 
temperatures, though these temperatures may be considerably 
below the melting point f90 — 99° F.) of mixed butterfat. 

For the same reason a weak bodied butter results when the 
cream, though it may have been cooled to the proper tempera- 
ture, is not held at that temperature long enough to enable the 
fat to actually partake of the low temperature. 

The defect is further intensified when this weak-bodied but- 
ter is excessively worked in this soft condition. 

The proper temperature to which cream must be cooled, in 



504 Butter Dei^ects 

order to prevent the weak body varies considerably with such 
factors as breed of cows, period of lactation and feed ; the relation 
of these factors to the churning temperature and to the firmness 
of the butter is fully explained in Chapter X "Churning." 

For the assistance of the buttermaker the prevention of 
weak-bodied butter may best be summarized as follows : 

1. Thoroughly chill the cream and hold it at the low tem- 
perature not less than two to three hours before churning. 

2. Do not guess at the churning temperature but determine 
it accurately with a correct thermometer. 

3. When deciding what the churning temperature should 
be, be guided by the firmness or softness of the previous churn- 
ing and by the time required to complete the churning process. 

4. Other conditions being the same, have the cream at that 
churning temperature at which the butter will break in about 40 
to 50 minutes. 

5. Butter that breaks in 20 to 25 minutes is prone to have 
a weak body. The cream from which it was made either was 
not cooled low enough or not held long enough at the low 
temperature. 

6. Cool the cream, according to conditions, to temperatures 
within the range of about 45° to 53° F. in summer and about 
54° to 60° F. in winter. This refers to cream churned in the 
middle western states. 

7. In case the butter comes exceedingly soft, let it rest, 
in granular condition, in cold water or ice water until it has 
hardened, so it can be handled and worked without serious 
danger of becoming greasy. 

8. Do not overwork soft butter. 

9. Points 7 and 8 do not prevent weak body, at this stage 
the weak body is already an accomplished fact. But they may 
help to minimize the unfavorable consequences of the defect. 

Greasy Body. — Butter becomes greasy when worked ex- 
cessively while in very soft condition, due either to too high 
churning temperature of the cream, too rich cream, or holding 
the butter in the churn too long before working, allowing it 
to warm up, or working it on a table worker in a warm room. 
Greasiness can be avoided by so governing the churning tem- 



Butter Defects 505 

perature, the period of holding the cream at that temperature 
and the temperature of the wash water, as to make the butter 
have a firm body when it is worked. The butter should be 
churned to small granules and preferably washed with water a 
few degrees colder than the temperature of the buttermilk. 

The danger of greasiness is especially great when churning 
cream rich in fat, such as cream testing 35 per cent, fat or over. 
Thin cream may be churned at considerably higher temperatures 
without danger of yielding a greasy butter, than rich cream. 
Rich cream should be churned at a relatively low temperature 
and should be held at that temperature at least three hours be- 
fore the churning process commences. 

Greasiness may be due also to allowing the butter to be- 
come very soft before it is worked as frequently happens in 
summer in a warm churn room where the butter is held unduly 
long in the churn or is worked on an open worker. For the 
above reasons greasiness is a very common defect of farm dairy 
butter, where facilities for cooling the cream and for working 
the butter in a cool room are usually lacking during the summer 
season. 

Salvy Body. — Salvy butter is butter in which the grain has 
been destroyed to the extent to where the granules have com- 
pletely lost their identity. This defect is prone to appear in 
butter that is overworked when in a very firm condition, espe- 
cially when the working is done in the absence of water. In 
exceptional cases the salvy body is due to conditions independ- 
ent of the working process, and may occur as the result of 
abnormal churning conditions. In winter when, owing to the 
advanced stage of the period of lactation of the great majority 
of the cows, and also owing to the character of the feed ration. 
the cream is very viscous and contains relatively small fat glob- 
ules, the cream churns with difficulty. If this cream happens 
to be very thin and has been exposed for a long time to a low 
temperature, as is frequently the case with hand separator cream, 
the solidification of the fat globules may have reached such a 
stage that these globules are so firm that they coalesce with 
great difficulty. This prolongs the churning process and 
frequently from one to three hours are required to make the 
butter "break" and to form large enough granules for conveni- 



506 Butter Defects 

ent handling. This abnormally prolonged agitation causes these 
firm globules and small firm granules to grind against each other 
and to strike the sides of the churn until they completely lose 
their identity, destroying the grain and giving the butter a salvy 
body and texture. Such butter is also prone to be abnormally 
high in moisture. A raise in the churning temperature of cream 
of this character sufficient to make the butter come reasonably 
soft, will shorten the time required for churning and avoid the 
production of butter that is salvy. 

Crumbly Body. — The brittle and crumbly texture of butter 
is characteristic of butter made in late fall, winter and early 
spring. Most creameries are troubled with this defect to some 
extent during the winter season. While its consequences are 
not fatal, the buyer demands a waxy body that permits of draw- 
ing a smooth plug with the trier and the consumer criticises 
butter that refuses to spread on account of its brittleness. The 
hotel and restaurant trade particularly objects to crumbly but- 
ter, because they find it very difficult to cut it into neat slabs 
and cubes ready for the table. Crumbly butter refuses to 
respond to knife or wire. On a weak market, crumbly butter 
often sells at a sacrifice. 

Causes of Crumbly Body. — There are two fundamental 
causes of crumbly butter, neither of which is under the control 
of the butter maker, namely, the cow and the feed. In winter 
the great majority of the cows are well advanced in their period 
of lactation. Cream from stripper cows contains predominat- 
ingly very minute fat globules. The small fat globules do not 
bind together readily when the cream churns, they are firm and 
persist in retaining their individuality. They do not yield so 
readily to the forces which overcome the surface tension. They 
remain intact and are prone to form small, smooth-surface, 
round, firm, shot-like granules, which do not pack readily and 
which lend the butter a short-grain and loose body of consid- 
erable firmness. This fact was conclusively demonstrated by 
the author^ in experiments to determine the effect of the size 
of the fat globules on the moisture content of butter. In these 
experiments milk was separated in such a manner, as to produce 

1 Hunziker, MlUs and Spitzer, "Moisture Control of Butter." I. Factors 
not under Control of the Buttermaker. Purdue Bulletin 159, 1912. 



Butter Defects 507 

churnings of cream in which the small globules, and churnings 

in which the large globules, respectively, predominated. The 
large-globule cream churned quickly and yielded a soft, pliable 
butter that packed readily. The small-globule cream, on the 
other hand, churned slowly, produced small, round, smooth and 
hard granules which did not pack readily and which made a 
very firm, crumbly and brittle butter, from which it was impos- 
sible to draw a solid plug. 

The second fundamental cause of the tendency of winter 
butter to be crumbly lies in the feed the cows receive during 
the winter season. Dry feed and most of the common concen- 
trates always increase the firmness of butter. If the winter 
ration contains hay or corn fodder and liberal quantities of such 
concentrates as cottonseed meal, bran, etc., the butter fat in 
the cream will contain a relatively small percentage of the fats 
with low melting point, such as olein, and a relatively high per- 
centage of the fats with high melting point, such as stearin, 
palmitin, myristin, etc., and the resulting butter will, therefore, 
be firm and tend to be crumbly. Potatoes, beets and beet tops, 
apples and cornsilage also produce high melting fats conducive 
of firm and crumbly butter. 

Prevention of Crumbly Body. — It is obvious from the above 
discussion that the fundamental causes of crumbly butter may 
be eliminated entirely by a change to winter dairying whereby 
the cows are so bred that most of them freshen in the fall, yield- 
ing milk in which the large globules predominate; and by the 
addition to the feed ration of such feeds as have a tendency to 
produce butter fat of a lower melting point, such as linseed meal, 
glutenfeed, etc. 

The dairy man who makes butter on the farm has the fac- 
tors of period of lactation and feed largely under his control and, 
therefore, is in a position to avoid crumbly butter by the intel- 
ligent adjustment of these factors. The average creamery which 
draws its cream supply from a large number of farms which are 
often scattered over a wide area, cannot hope for relief from 
crumbly butter by any efforts to remove these fundamental 
causes, and must, therefore, aim to minimize their effect by 
modifications in the process of manufacture. 

The only means available to the creamery to prevent crum- 



508 Butter Defects 

bly butter is to churn, wash and work at temperatures suffi- 
ciently high to secure a reasonably soft butter that binds and 
compacts readily and makes the butter pliable. Churn at a tem- 
perature that will insure the formation of moderately soft, flaky 
granules, instead of small, round, hard granules, then wash the 
butter with wash water of the same temperature as that of the 
buttermilk, or possibly a degree or two higher, especially in a 
cold churn room, and work it sufficiently to secure a waxy, tough 
texture. 

The crumbly body of butter is frequently also attributed to 
frozen cream. There is no evidence on record that the freezing 
of cream has any appreciable influence on the body of the butter, 
but it is quite possible, that improper methods of thawing of 
frozen cream, causing it to "oil off," may intensify the tendency 
of winter butter to be crumbly. See also Chapter VI on the 
"Handling of Frozen Cream." 

Faulty pasteurization, in which the cream is permitted to 
"oil off," as may be caused by the use of excessively high tem- 
peratures, or by allowing the cream, while hot, to lie in the vat 
undisturbed and without agitation, will intensify the crumbly 
butter defect for the same reason as is the case with faulty 
handling of frozen cream. 

The crumbliness of brittle butter is augmented by exposure 
of such butter to very low temperatures. Butter that is inclined 
toward brittleness and that is intended for the critical hotel trade, 
should, therefore, be held in a room at a moderate temperature, 
so that, at the time of delivery, it is not excessively firm and 
will lend itself more readily to the slab cutter. Such hotels 
might also advantageously be cautioned not to expose this butter 
to abnormally low temperatures before cutting.^ 

Mealy Body. — ^Mealy butter is butter that lacks the smooth, 
velvety texture of well-made butter. It is a defect that is critic- 
ized by the buyer, and when the mealiness is very pronounced, 
it is seriously objected to. 

Causes of Mealy Body. — In the great majority of cases 
mealy butter is due to a hardened condition of the particles 
of casein, resulting from excessive exposure to heat in the pres- 
ence of high acid, as is the case when heating sour cream to too 

1 It is advisable to worlt butter that is inclined to be crumbly very thor- 
ouglily, even to the extent of slight overworking. 



Butter Defects 509 

high a temperature, heating too slowly, holding at pasteurizing 
temperature too long, or not cooling rapidly enough. 

The acid in sour cream changes the casein to casein lactate, 
and precipitates it into very fine flakes, or particles of curd. Van 
Slyke and Hart* found that the casein is changed to casein lac- 
tate, when the amount of lactic acid in cream exceeds .5 per cent. 
In sweet cream the casein is largely in the form of calcium casein 
and some free casein. 

When this sour cream is heated for a prolonged period of 
time, as is often the case in the holding process of pasteurization, 
these particles of curd contract, expel much of their moisture, 
become firm and dry and give both the cream and the resulting 
butter a mealy texture. The mealiness is noticeable in the 
hot cream, and in the cream after cooling, quite as much as in 
the butter. Mealy cream always makes a mealy butter. 

Mealiness of this type does not occur in sweet or slightly 
sour cream, because in such cream the casein is present in its 
original and unchanged form. It has not been acted upon by 
the acid, it has not been precipitated. However, acid alone does 
not make cream and butter mealy. The particles of curd in the 
raw sour cream are soft. It is only in the presence of very high 
heat or upon prolonged exposure to heat, that sour cream be- 
comes mealy and makes mealy butter. 

Mealiness resulting from the above causes can be avoided 
by shortening the time required to heat the cream to the pas- 
teurizing temperature, by not exceeding 145° F. in the holding 
process, by holding for 30 minutes only and by cooling rapidly. 
Under proper conditions, such as adequate steam supply, ample 
size of steam and water pipes leading to the vat pasteurizer and 
adequate heating surface, the heating to 145° F. can usually be 
done in about 15 minutes. Experience has shown that, where 
the temperature can be raised to 145* F. in 15 minutes, there is 
very little danger of the cream and butter becoming mealy. If 
the time required to heat to 145° F. exceeds 30 minutes it is 
more difficult, and under certain conditions impossible, to avoid 
mealiness. 

Mealy butter is also almost invariably produced from sour 



» Van Slyke ft Hart, "The Protelds of Butter In Relation to Mottled Butter," 
New Yqj-k State (Geneva) Agx. Bxpt Station Bull. 268, 1905. 



510 Butter Defects 

cream that is aerated by blowing cold air through it, while the 
cream is being heated. This is largely due to the longer time 
required for raising the temperature to 145° F. The blowing of 
the cream with cold air, as ordinarily practiced in our creameries, 
prolongs the period of heating from 10 to 15 minutes, which is 
sufficient to excessively harden the particles of curd and to make 
cream and butter mealy, when the condition of the cream is such 
as to favor mealiness. 

When persistent trouble from mealiness is experienced and 
when it is desired to blow the cream, the danger from mealiness 
may best be avoided by blowing the cream while cold, or with 
hot air after the temperature of 145° F. has been reached. Blow- 
ing the cold cream, however, is less effective from the standpoint 
of the purpose for which the blowing is done, i. e., to remove 
objectionable flavors and odors. The volatile substances respon- 
sible for these flavors and odors are expelled more readily from 
hot cream than from cold cream. 

The reduction of the acid in the cream by neutralization 
does not prevent mealiness. In fact practical experience has 
demonstrated that the excessive use of lime hydrate in sour 
cream tends to intensify rather than minimize mealiness. 

A further cause of mealiness of this type lies in the improper 
use of lime in the process of neutralization. When neutraliza- 
tion is done in an approved manner and as directed in Chapter 
VII, the danger of mealiness is removed. 

Another type of mealiness of butter is that which is due to 
a peculiar granular condition of the butterfat, similar to that 
of renovated butter. In this case the mealy body of the butter 
is not due to the grainy condition of the cream, but to granu- 
lated fat. This type of mealiness is not confined to butter made 
from sour pasteurized cream, it may occur as well in sweet cream 
butter. It appears whenever the cream is subjected to condi- 
tions that will cause it to "oil off." When this cream with the 
"oiled-off" or "run-together" butter oil is subsequently cooled 
and the fat hardens, the fat granulates and refuses to return 
to its original mechanical condition, and the granulated fat gives 
the butter a mealy consistency. 

This species of mealiness does not appear in the cream while 
hot; it becomes noticeable only after cooling and in the finished 



Butter Defects 511 

butter. It is caused either by faulty pasteurization or by im- 
proper handling of frozen cream. 

If, during the process of pasteurization the hot cream is 
allowed to repose in a vat without agitation, as may be the case 
with flash pasteurized cream that is not run over a continuous 
cooler, or with vat pasteurized cream with the coil at rest during 
the holding period, there is a tendency for the butter fat to run 
together, "oil-off" and gather in the form of butter oil on the 
surface of the cream. When the cream is subsequently cooled 
this butter oil crystallizes or granulates, giving the butter a 
mealy body. This can best be avoided by guarding against 
excessively high temperatures of pasteurization and by keeping 
the cream thoroughly agitated while hot and until it has been 
cooled to a temperature at which the butterfat congeals, i. e.. 
about 70° F. or below. 

The experience of many creameries has been that in winter, 
when some of the cream arrives at the factory in frozen condi- 
tion, butter is prone to be mealy, and the mealy condition of 
such butter has therefore been attributed to frozen cream. A 
careful study by the author of this phenomenon has shown that 
frozen cream, as such, does not produce mealiness, but that 
frozen cream may and does become the cause of mealiness in- 
directly by improper handling of this cream. 

For further details see Chapter IV "Receiving Milk and 
Cream." 

Finally, experience has shown that mealiness resulting from 
either of the two fundamental causes, the curd precipitation and 
the "oiling-off" of the fat, is characteristic more especially of 
the use of the holding process of pasteurization than the flash 
process. In the flash process the cream is heated and cooled 
quickly, not giving the particles of curd sufficient time to con- 
tract and harden excessively, and the cream is subjected to 
continuous agitation until it is cooled, thus largely preventing 
the "oiling-off" of the fat. Butter resulting from the flash 
process usually has a clearer and smoother body and is more 
completely free from mealiness than butter made from cream 
pasteurized by the holding process. 

Summary of Prevention of Mealiness. — In brief, then, the 
mealy body of butter can be avoided by: 



512 BUTTSR Depejcts 

1. So regulating the temperature of pasteurization and the 
period of exposure to pasteurizing temperature, as to avoid the 
excessive contraction of the curd in the sour cream. Heat rap- 
idly, do not exceed 145° F. in the case of the holding process, 
limit the time of holding to 30 minutes and cool rapidly. Do 
not blow the cream. 

2. Preventing the cream from "oiling-ofif." Keep the coil in 
the vat revolving during heating, holding, and until the cream 
is cooled to 70° F. or below. 

Do not heat the frozen cream to a temperature higher than 
95° F. and hold it at that temperature until it has become fluid. 

Leaky Body. — This defect is characteristic of salted butter 
only. Unsalted butter seldom, if ever, shows real leakiness. In 
leaky butter much of the water present is incompletely incor- 
porated in the fat and oozes out profusely when such butter is 
handled, cut, packed, shipped and stored. When bored with 
the trier, brine runs freely from the plug, and when the plug 
is squeezed, there is further escape of moisture. 

Leaky butter, owing to the ready escape of moisture, gen- 
erally suffers excessive loss in weight between the churn and 
the market, as well as in storage. Leaky butter usually also has 
an objectionable briny flavor suggesting excessively high salt 
content, although the actual percentage of salt it contains may 
not be high and may even be below the average. The briny 
flavor in this case is due to the direct appeal to the palate of free 
brine. For these several reasons leaky butter is not looked up- 
on with favor by the buyer. 

Causes of Leaky Butter. — Because the leaky body is large- 
ly confined to salted butter only, this defect has been attributed 
to faulty methods of salting and working, and the popular im- 
pression prevails that such is the case. Within relatively nar- 
row limitations leakiness may be intensified or minimized by 
the processes of washing, salting and working, but the funda- 
mental cause of leakiness lies prior to these processes, it has to 
do with the treatment the cream receives preparatory to the 
churning process. 

Leakiness is due to incompleteness and consequent in- 
stability of the emulsion of buttermilk (or water) in fat, and this 



Butter Dei^ects 513 

emulsion occurs during the churning process. The complete- 
ness and permanency of the water-in-fat emulsion is depend- 
ent on the relative mechanical firmness of the fat at the time 
of churning. 

If the butterfat in the cream in the churn has previously 
been thoroughly chilled by cooling to, or below, the proper 
churning temperature and by holding it at that temperature for 
the necessary length of time, leaky butter is not likely to result. 
Butterfat in this condition yields an emulsion of water-in-fat 
that is relatively stable. The finely divided water droplets are 
firmly held in this compact fat. 

When salt is added to and worked into butter made from 
incompletely chilled cream, the loosely held emulsion of water- 
in-fat is disturbed and partly broken. The emulsion yields to 
the salting-out process. The water droplets are not firmly 
enough locked up in the body of the butter to resist the attraction 
of the salt. The sail draws them together into drops and larger 
aggregates, which leak freely from the butter. 

Even when efforts are made on the part of the buttermaker 
to harden this butter in the churn, either by churning the cream 
with ice or by holding the butter for a considerable length of 
time in ice water, a really good body can not be recovered. The 
defect may be somewhat minimized by these remedial prac- 
tices but the damage has already been done, and the butter will 
have a distinctly weak body that will not stand up well under 
adverse temperature conditions, and that is prone to be leaky. 
If cream has been cooled to a point where the fat becomes 
thoroughly chilled, as it should be, churning at a temperature 
slightly too high does not produce leakiness, the fat is still 
of good firmness, because it does not respond to temperature changes 
rapidly, being a poor conductor of heat and cold. 

This leaky butter defect appears largely, though not wholly, only 
in the spring and early summer. This is the time when, due to 
the freshening of the cows and the change from dry feed to 
succulent pasture, the melting and solidifying points of the 
butterfat drop rapidly. 

The average buttermaker fails to fully appreciate this rapid 
change in the character of the butterfat he receives in the spring, 
and he often does not respond quickly enough to this change 



514 Butter De;fects 

with an adequate lowering of the churning temperature. There- 
fore the tendency of spring and early summer butter to be leaky. 
The incomplete chilling of the cream in early summer is in many 
cases the result of an insufficient supply of cooling medium and 
inadequate vat capacity to handle the great volume of cream 
that arrives during the flush. 

Leaky butter may result at any other time of the year, 
whenever the temperature of the cream before churning is not 
low enough and the period of holding at this temperature is not 
long enough to thoroughly chill the fat. 

Rich cream is more apt to make a leaky body than thin 
cream, unless the rich cream is churned at a lower temperature. 
If the cream of different churnings varies in per cent fat con- 
siderably, it is more difficult to- have successive churnings 
of butter of good body and free from leakiness. The standard- 
ization of each churning for fat greatly assists the buttermaker 
in his efforts to produce a perfect body, with reasonable 
regularity. 

The tendency toward leakiness is intensified also by any agency 
that is prone to mutilate or tear apart the body of the butter. 
Churns that tear the butter during the working process are 
more apt to yield a leaky butter than churns, the workers of 
which squeeze it. The tearing and chopping of the butter during 
the working disturb the texture and tend to liberate some of 
the otherwise firmly held water droplets. 

Summary on Prevention of Leaky Butter. — When the butter- 
maker is troubled with leaky butter he should pay attention to 
the following phases of manufacture: 

1. Standardize each churning to a uniform percentage of 
fat, preferably between 30 and 33 per cent. 

2. Thoroughly chill the fat in the cream by cooling the 
cream to a temperature low enough and holding it at this tem- 
perature long enough to secure firm butter granules. Unless 
cooling facilities permit the cooling of the cream to far below 
the desired churning temperature, the cream should be held at 
the temperature cooled to for not less than two hours, and 
preferably three hours. 

3. Work the butter until visible water pockets have disap- 
peared and the butter has a compact, solid, tough, waxy body. 



BuTTKR Defects 515 

This is possible only with butter made from cream that has been 
thoroughly chilled before churning. 

Gritty Body. — This defect is due to the presence in butter 
of undissolved salt crystals. Grittiness is highly objectionable 
to the consumer, it conveys the impression of excessive salt, 
and gives the butter a seemingly strong salty and coarse flavor. 
In properly salted butter all the salt is present in complete solu- 
tion. The more complete the solution and distribution of the 
salt, the more salt butter will stand without tasting objection- 
ably salty. 

The usual factors which enter into the presence or absence 
of grittiness of butter are, moisture content, temperature of but- 
ter, amount of working, amount and temperature of salt added 
and size and shape of salt crystals. 

As shown in "Composition of Butter," Chapter XVIII, 100 
pounds of water at ordinary temperature is capable of dissolving 
and holding in solution 35.94 pounds of salt, so that, theoret- 
ically, butter containing say 15 per cent moisture is capable 

15 X 35.94 

of holding in solution — \r.^' ='- 5.39 per cent salt. Owing 

& 100 ^ 

to the very fine division of a part of the moisture in butter, the 
salt added to butter is incapable of gaining access to and of 
utilizing all the moisture present in butter during the brief time 
during which butter is worked. In reality, butter containing 16 
per cent moisture, makes possible the complete solution of not to 
exceed about 4.5 to 5 per cent of salt, although this same amount 
of water, if freed from the other butter constitutents is, in fact, 
capable of dissolving salt equivalent to a salt content in butter, 
of 5.75 per cent. Butter containing more than this amount of 
salt, therefore, is prone to be gritty. All conditions which tend 
towards a low moisture content invite the production of gritty 
butter, unless the amount of salt added is reduced correspond- 
ingly. 

Insufficient working of the butter is another very common 
cause of gritty butter. When butter is of normal texture it 
should be worked until the salt is dissolved and all signs of 
grittiness have disappeared. 

Finally the size and shape of the salt crystals may become 
responsible for grittiness. The use of very coarse salt and espe- 



516 Butter Defects 

daily if such crystals are of cube shape, retards solution, while 
reasonably fine crystals enhance solution. Too fine salt also is 
undesirable because it tends to paste and cake in the butter and 
thereby hinders ready solution and even distribution. Salt of 
the proper degree of fineness will pass through a sieve with 28 
to 30 meshes to the inch. 

DEFECTS IN COLOR. 

As previously stated, the color of butter must be of the 
intensity desired by the market where it is sold. 

According to Palmer' the natural yellow color of cream and 
butter is derived from two classes of yellow pigment, the carotin 
and xanthophyll, which accompany the green chlorophyll of 
plants. These yellow pigments, particularly the carotin, are 
found in the blood of the cow and it is in this way the carotin 
passes from the feed to the milk gland where it associates itself 
with the milkfat. Palmer classifies the following feeds with 
reference to their carotin content and consequent property to 
make yellow cream and butter as shown below. This classifica- 
tion explains why cows fed on green pasture, as is the case in 
early summer, produce a deep yellow butter, while in winter 

High Color Low Color 

Carotin-Rich Feeds. Carotin-Poor Feeds. 

Green pasture grass, especially ^'^11 hay that has lost its green 

when fresh in the spring or ^^^^^ '" ^"""^' ^uch as most 
J. ,. timothy and clover hay. 

Drv corn fodder (corn stover). 
Hay, cured with a large part of ^jf ^,^^^ ^-^^^^^ ^^^^p^ ^.^^^ 

its original green color, such very new. 

as most western-cured alfalfa Straw, all kinds. 

hay. Corn, both yellow and white. 

All soiling crops. Wheat. 

^ r 1 1 All so-called mill by-products, 

Green corn fodder. , , , , , 

such a? wheat bran, brewers 
Very new corn silage. ^^^-^^^ cottonseed meal, lin- 

Carrots, and other yellow roots seed meal, natural gluten- 
and tubers. feed, etc, 

1 Palmer — The Yellow Color in Cream and Butter. Missouri Circular 74, 
1915. 



Butter Defects 517 

when they receive largely dry fodder and grain by-products, the 
butter has a very light yellow and often an almost white color. 

It is well known that the Channel Island breeds, the Jersey 
and Guernsey, are capable of yielding a much more yellow butter 
than the Holsteins and Ayrshires. This is explained by Palmer 
to be due largely to the fact that some breeds (Jerseys and 
Guernseys) make use of more feed carotin than others (Hol- 
steins and Ayrshires). 

It is also a matter of common knowledge that the natural 
color of butter varies with the period of lactation. Palmer 
states that no breed difference in color exists immediately after 
parturition, the colostrum milk of all cows being very highly 
colored due to a relativel}^ large amount of carotin in the milk- 
fat. As the period of lactation advances the intensity of the 
color decreases. In the case of the Jerseys and Guernseys the 
color does not diminish as rapidly and not to so great a degree 
as in the case of the Holsteins and Ayrshires, so that even in 
winter when most of the cows approach the end of the period of 
lactation and when the carotin content of the feed ration is low, 
the Channel Island breeds are still producing a light yellow 
butter, while the butter of the Holsteins and Ayrshires is almost 
white. This is explained to be due to the fact that the Channel 
Island breeds are storing up a reserve of carotin in their body 
fat in summer when the succulent pasture supplies them with an 
abundance of carotin and on which they draw in fall and winter 
when the feed is largely devoid of this coloring pigment, while 
the Holsteins and Ayrshires are unable to do this to the same 
extent. 

In order to satisfy the demand of the butter market and to 
maintain uniformity of color at a time of the year when, espe- 
cially in Holstein and Ayrshire localities, the natural color of 
butter is practically white, artificial butter color is added. 

Too High Color. — As previously stated the trend of the best 
butter trade is toward a light, straw-colored butter. In these 
markets, therefore, butter with a deep golden yellow color is not 
desired. While, in winter, when the natural color of butter is 
very light, the buttermaker is in a position to meet these demands 
by modifying the amount of artificial color added, in early sum- 



518 Butter Dei^ects 

mer, when most of the cows freshen and have access to green 
pasture, the butter is often so intensely yellow, without any 
addition of artificial butter color, that it is criticized as being 
too high in color. This is especially true with butter produced 
in localities where the Jerseys and Guernseys predominate. 

In the great majority of complaints by the trade, too high 
color is due to carelessness or accident on the part of the butter- 
maker. In this case it is caused either by incorrect calcula- 
tion of the amount of butterfat in the churning on which he 
bases the amount of artificial butter color to add, or careless 
measuring of the butter color, or not modifying the proportion 
of butter color used in accordance with a sudden change in the 
natural color of the cream, especially in the spring of the year, 
or a change to a new brand of stronger butter color, or butter 
color from the bottom of the drum which may contain an ac- 
cumulation or concentration of the coloring principle due to 
settling. 

The prevention of these difficulties is obvious. The butter- 
maker should constantly bear in mind that the trade objects to 
uneven and excessive coloring in butter and that it expresses 
its objection in discounting the value of the butter to the detri- 
ment of the net returns to the creamery. It does not pay to 
overcolor butter. 

Too Light Color. — This is a shortcoming for which butter is 
seldom criticized and only in very isolated markets which insist 
on a high-colored butter throughout the year. The excessively 
light color is usually due to the season of the year and occurs 
only during the winter months when the cows are receiving dry 
feed only and no artificial butter color is added to the cream. 
It can readily be remedied by the addition of the proper amount 
of artificial butter color. 

In some instances the lack of yellowness, may be due to the 
bleaching of the color of the butter after the butter is made and 
packed. 

This is usually due to an oxidizing action taking place in 
the butter, either on the butterfat itself or on other ingredients 
which butter may contain. See "Tallowy Butter." 

The bleaching of butter may also be the result of holding 
butter in water. In hotels and restaurants where the butter is 



Butter Defects 519 

cut into small slabs for table use, these slabs are generally 
dropped from the butter cutter into ice water. In the case of 
salted butter, if these slabs are permitted to remain in this water 
for any considerable length of time, -portions of the surface 
begin to bleach, giving the butter a mottled appearance. Con- 
tinued exposure will bleach the entire surface, the mottles be- 
come very indistinct, but the color on the surface of the slabs is 
much lighter. 

This type of bleaching can be readily and entirely avoided, 
as demonstrated by the work of Hunziker^, by dropping the 
slabs of salted butter into a solution of 25 per cent brine instead 
of water. In this case there is but one kind of liquid present 
and that is brine, brine in the butter and brine surrounding it, 
no interchange of liquids takes place and there is no bleaching. 

If the slabs consist of unsalted butter they do not bleach 
when dropped into water, because here again there is but one 
liquid and that is water, water in the butter and water surround- 
ing it, there is no cause for interchange of liquids and there is no 
change in the color of the. slabs. See also "Mottled Butter." 

Excessive working of salted butter also has a marked 
whitening effect on the butter. This is due to the fact that in 
normally-worked butter the average size of the water drop- 
lets is relatively large and this lends the salted butter a relatively 
clear, deep yellow color. Overworking causes a finer division 
of these water droplets and this in turn produces a lighter and 
more opaque appearance, more nearly like that of unsalted 
butter, in which the water droplets always average much smaller 
in size. 

Dull Color. — Much of the butter made in some creameries 
has a dull and lifeless color. This is usually the result of at- 
tempts to incorporate a high per cent of moisture, and overwork- 
ing. When, in an effort to incorporate moisture, the butter is 
overworked to the extent to where the grain of the butter is 
destroyed, the fat granules lose their bright lustre. The large 
amount of moisture held by the fat in very minute droplets and 
very complete emulsion, together with the very fine division of 
the air in the butter, also resulting from overworking, hides the 



1 Hunzlker — Defects in the Coloring of Butter. Address American Asso- 
ciation of Creamery Butter Manufacturers. Chicago, February 18, 1919. 



520 Butter Defects 

bright yellow color and gives the butter a dull and lifeless 
appearance. 

It is obvious that this defect can readily be avoided by in- 
corporating a normal amount of moisture and not overworking 
the butter. The difficulty of incorporating the desired amount 
of moisture in butter that is naturally very firm and dry, and 
does not readily take up and hold moisture, in order to secure a 
reasonable overrun, may best be overcome by raising the churn- 
ing temperature sufficiently to give the butter a somewhat less 
firm body. 

Mottled and Wavy Butter. General Description. — Uneven- 
ness in the color of butter is shown in the butter in the form of 
streaks, waves and mottles. Streakiness or waviness refers to 
butter in which the unevenness in color shows in the form of 
layers or waves of different shades of yellow, the color in the 
layer or wave itself, however, may be perfectly uniform. In the 
case of mottles the butter is dappled with spots of lighter and 
deeper shades of yellow throughout its body. 

Unevenness in color, and especially mottles, in butter, are a 
serious defect from the standpoint of its market value. This 
defect has nothing to do with the quality of the butter, mottled 
butter is just as good and just as wholesome as butter that is not 
mottled. But while the criticism of the trade is a superficial one, 
the objection is no less real. Butter that is otherwise perfect 
and might score a good "Extras," if it is mottled, clears as a 
"Seconds" and is sold on that basis l)y the dealer. 

Causes and Prevention of Mottles. — Extensive experiments 
by Hunziker and Iloman^ have shown that the causes of mottles 
are due to the following factors : 

1. Mottles are caused by an uneven distribution of the 
water droplets in butter. 

2. The white, opaque dapples in mottled butter are caused by 
the presence, or localization of innumerable very small water drop- 
lets. The small size, high curvature and large number of these drop- 
lets bend, refract and deflect the rays of light to such an extent 
that they render the butter opaque and give it a whitish appear- 
ance.- 



• Hunziker & Hosman. A Study of the Causes of Mottles in Butter. Blue 
Valley Research Lab., Chicago 1918 and 1919. Journal Dairy Science, Vol. Ill, 
No. 2, 1920. 

- The opacity is further intensified by the difference in the refractive in- 
dex between butterfat and water. 



BuTTKR Deb'Ects 521 

3. The clearer and deeper yellow blotches in mottled butter are 
caused by absence, or the relatively small number of the very small 
droplets or by the presence of a larger number of large droplets, or 
both. Both, the absence of any water droplets and the presence of 
relatively large droplets and aggregates of drops, minimize the 
refraction and deflection of the rays of light, permitting the 
rays to enter sufficiently to give the butter a clearer and more 
translucent body and revealing more of the natural golden yellow 
color characteristic of butterfat. 

4. The reason why unsalted butter always has an opacjue whit- 
ish color, and never is mottled, lies in the fact that in unsalted but- 
ter, regardless of the amount of working, the water is always pres- 
ent in the form of exceedingly minute and innumerable water drop- 
lets of uniform size and distribution, giving the entire body of but- 
ter a uniform opaque whitish appearance. The permanency of this 
uniform white appearance is due to the absence in unsalted butter 
of agents capable of breaking this fine emulsion of water-in-fat. 

5. The reason why salted butter always has a clearer and 
deeper yellow color than unsalted butter, lies in the fact that the 
salt, due to its action on the curd and to its great affinity for 
water, draws the more loosely held small droplets together into 
larger aggregates, it makes the emulsion of water-in-fat less 
complete, it diminishes the refraction and deflection of the rays 
of light and makes the butter more tran'^lucent 

6. Salted butter at the churn is never mottled, because, even in 
insufficiently worked butter the distribution of the large droplets 
at the conclusion of the working process is sufficiently complete to 
hide the localized sections of the very minute droplets. 

7. Salted butterj when insufficiently or unevenly worked, in- 
variably becomes mottled upon standing, because in such butter the 
fusion and the emulsification of brine and water are incomplete. 
Owing to the diflr'erence in concentration, and to osmosis be- 
tween brine and water, interchange and migration of brine and 
water takes place in the butter at rest. This causes the more loosely 
held, larger water droplets to run together into larger aggregates and 
the portions of butter containing these fewer but larger droplets 
show themselves as and represent the clearer, more translucent and 
deeper yellow blotches of mottled butter. 



522 Butter D^FEicTr 

Size of Water Droplets in Light and Dark Portions of 
Mottled Butter. 

Magnified 740 times. 




rig-. 81. iigrht portions 



^y 'h^- 






mJ/'W '^: 



,^*f,. 






||*^fi»< 



Pig-. 82. Dark portions 



Butter Defects 523 

The running-together of the larger droplets simultaneously also 
uncovers the localized sections of innumerable very small droplets 
which, at the conclusion of the working process, were hidden by 
the larger droplets. And the appearance of these aggregates of 
very small droplets brings to view the opaque, dense, whitish 
dapples of mottled butter. 

8. The reason why salted butter, when sufficiently and evenly 
worked, does not show mottles upon standing lies in the fact, that 
in such butter the large droplets resulting from the action of the 
salt, have been redivided and remulsified in the butter and the 
fusion of brine and water has become relatively complete. Hence 
there is practically only one kind of liquid in this butter and that 
is brine. There is nO' difference in concentration, there is no 
cause for osmosis, and there is no interchange and migration of 
liquids. And the permanency of the emulsion is further strength- 
ened by the more minute division of the droplets in properly and 
evenly worked butter. 

9. Streaky or wavy butter is caused by uneven working of dif- 
ferent portions of butter of one and the same churning, either due 
to a faulty condition of the workers or an overloaded churn. Those 
portions of the churning which receive the most working have the 
lightest color, because the more the butter is worked, the smaller 
become the water droplets and the smaller the water droplets, the 
more opaque and the whiter is the butter. 

10. Streaky or wavy butter may also result when the distribu- 
tion of the salt over the entire length of the churn is very uneven. 
In this case the butter that received the most salt will have larger 
water droplets and will therefore have a clearer, more translucent 
and more yellow color than that part of the butter that received the 
least amount of salt. 

Practical directions for the prevention of waves and mottles 
in butter: 1. Keep churn and workers constantly in good me- 
chanical repair. — Make sure that the workers are correctly set, 
properly adjusted and that they are free from slack and do not slip. 

The distance between workers, in the case of churns with two 
or more workers, and between worker and shelf in the one-worker 
churn, should be the same over the entire length of the churn. Uneven 
distance causes uneven working. An uneven distance between work- 
ers is due to the fact that either one or more of the workers are 
crooked, the worker shafts are out of line, the shaft has worn a 



524 Butter De;fects 

large hole in the end of the worker, the bearings in which the 
worker shafts run are worn, the worker shafts themselves are 
worn, the distance between centers of the worker shaft bearings 
in one end of the churn is not the same as that in the other end of 
the churn, the periphery of the workers has become badly dam- 
aged in places, or the shelves are not of the same width over their 
whole length, do not lie straight, have become damaged, or are 
loose and wobbly. 

In churns with more than one worker, the workers must be so 
set that, when in operation, the ridges of one worker meet the 
grooves of the opposite worker. If they are so set that ridges meet 
ridges and grooves meet grooves, the working is very uneven, invit- 
ing mottles. 

The workers must be taut, and free from excessive slack and 
from slipping. Slack and slipping workers won't stay set right and 
therefore cause uneven working and mottles. Slack and slipping is 
due either to the worker shafts having worn loose in the ends of 
the workers, the worker shafts slipping in the gear wheels due to 
a worn key or worn shaft, or to excessive wear of or damage to 
the cogs of the gear wheels. 

The buttermaker who would make butter uniformly free from 
mottles and waviness must keep close watch of the mechanical con- 
dition of his churns and keep the churns and workers in a constant 
state of good mechanical repair. 

2. Do Not Overload the Workers. — An overloaded churn 
needs more revolutions with the workers in gear than a churn not 
overloaded. But at best such working is prone to lack of uniformity. 
When the workers are overloaded all of the butter cannot go through 
the workers with each churn revolution. Some of the butter will 
fall off over the outside of the workers, and therefore fails to be 
worked, as fully explained in Chapter XL, "Working." 

3. The Butter must be worked sufficiently for complete so- 
lution of the salt and distribution of the brine. — The process of 
working is the only means whereby the extraneous water and the 
brine can be evenly distributed throughout the mass of butter. If 
this complete solution of salt and distribution of brine is not accom- 
plished during the process of working, it will never be accomplished, 
and such butter, upon standing, is bound to become mottled. It is 
only during the process of working that the brine is capable of pene- 



Butter Defects 



525 



trating the fine emulsion of the native water in butter, and that the 
brine itself is capable of becoming sufficiently fused with the water 
and emulsified with the protein and fat particles of the butter to 
preclude interchange of the brine and water after working. 

If the salt crystals are not completely dissolved by the working 
process, the migration of the free liquid in the butter at rest, is 
intensified by the affinity of the salt for water and the dapples or 
mottles appear more quickly and more conspicuously. 




Fig-. 82 A. Fissures in salted butter, showing^ mig-ration of water 

Magrnified 110 times 

So far as the process of working is concerned, therefore, in 
order to prevent mottles, the butter must be worked sufficiently to 
dissolve the salt completely, to cause a very thorough fusion of the 
brine and the water and to produce a sufficient emulsion of the brine, 
fat and protein of butter to hold it. 

The degree of fineness of the salt, or the size of the salt crys- 
tals, influences its solubility. Too coarse salt requires more water 
and more time for the complete solution of each crystal. Too fine 
salt tends to cake or paste the crystals together, again hindering 
ready solution. See also Chapter XL, "Salting." 

Briefly, then, mottles and waves can be prevented by the use of 
churns in which the workers and shelves are set correctlv and are in 



526 BuTTEiR Defe;cts 

perfect mechanical condition, by avoiding the overloading of the 
workers, by the proper use and even distribution in the churn of 
readily soluble salt, and by adjusting the working process according 
to the mechanical firmness of the butter in such a manner, as to 
insure complete solution of the salt, even distribution and complete 
fusion of brine and water and producing a butter in which the free 
brine and water have been sufficiently emulsified, to give the butter a 
close, tough, waxy texture, free from visible water pockets. 

White Specks in Butter. — Butter occasionally is permeated 
with a multitude of small white specks. This condition is due to 
the incorporation of small pieces of coagulated casein. The defect 
is easily preventable and should not occur when proper attention 
is given to the handling of the starter and the cream. Its most 
common cause is overripe starter, overripe cream and cream that 
has been allowed to dry on the surface due to lack of stirring dur- 
ing the ripening process. If the starter is added before it is over- 
ripe and has formed a firm curd, or if the coagulum is thoroughly 
broken up by stirring or pouring and the starter is strained into the 
cream, if the cream is properly stirred during the ripening process 
so as to prevent its drying on the surface, if it is not overripened, 
and is strained into the churn, there is usually no danger of white 
specks in butter. Cream and starter should never be allowed to 
enter the churn unless they are run through a fine strainer. 

The occasional appearance of white specks in butter may be due 
to the cream strainer in the churn becoming clogged and flowing 
over, or to emptying the accumulated material caught in the 
strainer, into the churn, either through accident or through 
ignorance. 

Yellow Specks in Butter. — This is a very rare defect and 
yet occasionally it occurs and causes trouble. When these specks 
are of an orange shade, they are usually due to sediment in the but- 
ter color used. If the butter color contains such sediment it should 
be allowed to settle and only the clear oil on top should be used. 
These yellow specks occur most generally only when the supply of 
butter color in the drum or other receptacle is nearly exhausted, so 
that the very bottom strata of the color in the drum are drawn on. 
In this case it is advisable to discard the remnant of butter color 
and draw from a new drum. 



Butter Defects 527 

Frequently the yellow specks are of a different nature and are 
due to other causes. There occasionally appear yellow spots in the 
butter that are of an oily, translucent nature. In this case they are 
generally due to accidental exposure of that particular portion of 
butter to some object warm enough to cause partial melting and, 
when recongealed, the butter in that spot looks deep yellow like clear 
butterfat. 

This defect may occur when the operator uses a packer that 
was soaked in hot water immediately before use and failed to cool 
it. The warm butter packer melts a small portion of the butter 
which it touches, resulting in yellow specks showing up in the but- 
ter when examined over the trier, or when cut. The buttermaker 
frequently argues that the butter packs more easily when a warm 
packer is used. All tools, packers and ladles should be chilled in 
cold water or cold brine, before they are used in the packing of 
butter. 

Occasionally prints of butter are found that are completely 
jacketed in a layer of this same translucent, clear, deep yellow, oily- 
looking butter. This is caused when unsalted butter is stored in 
a warm room for a considerable length of time. In this case the 
surface layer becomes very soft, evaporates most of its moisture 
and expels a portion of its protein content. When rehardened, a 
surface layer, varying in thickness according to the temperature ex- 
posed to and the duration of the exposure, of very sharply defined, 
almost pure butterfat, is produced and this is of very translucent 
deep yellow color, while the remainder of the print retains its nat- 
ural opaque white color. Chemical analysis shows that the moisture 
content of this outer layer of yellow butter may be no higher than 
one per cent. This defect is greatly minimized in its intensity and 
the evaporation retarded when the butter, in addition to the parch- 
ment wrapper, is enclosed in a wax paper and packed in a carton. 

Salted butter exposed to similar conditions is not subject to this 
defect. This is probably due to the fact that the loss of moisture 
due to evaporation is more evenly distributed throughout the body 
of the print. As the moisture on and near the surface evaporates, 
salt crystals form which draw more moisture from the interior of 
the butter. 

It is obvious that the storing of butter in a warm room is ob- 
jectionable at best, and store-keepers should be urged not to keep 



528 Butter Defects 

more butter on the open shelves of their stores than they may rea- 
sonably expect to dispose of each day, or preferably to reserve a 
compartment in their refrigerator for all the butter they carry in 
stock. 




Pig". 83. Unsalted iDutter held at room temperature for 
30 days, showing- deep yellow horder at periphery 
due to evaporation of moisture, while interior retained 
its original color; moisture in surface layer was 1 
per cent, in interior 16 per cent. 

Green Spots in Butter. — Green spots occasionally appear on 
the surface or in the interior of butter, other than those described 
under "moldy butter." This green coloration, especially when found 
on the surface, usually shows up in the form of small circles or 
rings, which grow larger with age. 

Microchemical examination of these green spots by Hunziker 
and Hosman^ showed these spots to contain traces of copper. When 
they appear on the surface of print butter they can generally be 
traced to the presence in the parchment wrapper of very minute 
specks with metallic lustre. These specks in the wrapper have been 
found, by the authors, to consist of copper or an alloy containing 
copper, such as German silver, or brass. 

Further investigation has revealed that the parchment paper 
manufacturers are experiencing considerable difficulties to keep 

* Hunziker and Hosman, Blue Valley Research Laboratory, 1917-1919. Re- 
sults not published. 



Butte;r Deifeicts 529 

filings of these metals out of their paper pulp and that, in order to 
guard against their appearance in the paper, the manufacturers are 
employing diverse devices, such as magnets, etc., in the process of 
manufacture. 

The original source of these minute specks of metallic lustre 
in the parchment paper lies in the rags Mrhich constitute a portion 
of the raw material from which parchment paper is manufactured. 
In spite of the manufacturers' efforts to eliminate them, metal but- 
tons and buckles of discarded overalls and of similar rags occa- 
sionally escape detection, pass into the process with the rags and 
are thus ground into fine particles or filings which later appear in 
the finished parchment paper. 

Whenever particles of these metal filings become incorporated 
in the parchment wrapper and the butter is wrapped in such wrap- 
pers, the salt and acid in the butter attack the copper contained in 
these minute specks, forming verdigris. This in turn starts the 
formation of a small green circle on the butter and on the wrapper, 
where the metal speck is located. 

The green circle grows as the butter ages and the action con- 
tinues. Around the green coloration there is often also white, 
bleached butter with an intense tallowy odor. This oxidation, un- 
der favorable conditions, may ultimately involve the entire print, 
causing the whole package to be greenish white and tallowy. 

In other cases the green coloration may occur in the interior 
of the butter. In this case it is also due to particles of copper or 
an alloy containing copper, but the source of the copper lies in the 
manufacturing process. It is especially prone to occur when the 
strainer over the forewarmer or over the pasteurizing vat sags and 
scrapes the revolving coil, or when accidentally a can cover or other 
obstruction drops into the bottom of the forewarmer and becomes 
wedged in between the forewarmer and the revolving coil. 

In such instances and other similar cases, particles of the copper 
of the coil and possibly of the strainer are filed off into the cream 
and are later worked into the butter. The metal particles may be 
very small and hardly perceptible to the naked eye, but their corro- 
sion by the salt and acid of the butter is inevitable, causing the 
appearance of green verdigris in the interior of the butter. 

It is obvious that this defect is highly objectionable, verdigris 
is poisonous and the green coloration is offensive. It can be easily 



530 Composition and Properties of Butter 

avoided by using wrappers that are free from metallic specks and 
by avoiding any carelessness in the creamery, that causes the in- 
corporation in butter of metallic elements. The copper coils should 
never be permitted to scrape against any metal, and if any material 
or. instrument is used to clean the coil or vat lining, that causes vio- 
lent friction on the copper surfaces, the greatest care should be exer- 
cised to flush such surfaces thoroughly so as to remove every ves- 
tige of metallic material before cream is again permitted to enter 
the vat. 

Chapter XVIII. 

COMPOSITION AND PROPERTIES OF BUTTER, MILK, 
CREAM, SKIM MILK AND BUTTERMILK. 

Butter. 

Butter is a mixture of butterfat, small amounts of the non- 
fatty constituents of milk, cream and vv^ater, and it may contain 
added salt and coloring matter. It is an emulsion of diluted 
buttermilk-in-fat. 

It is composed chiefly of butterfat, water, curd and salt in 
the case of salted butter, and butterfat, water and curd in the 
case of unsalted butter. The remaining non-fatty constituents, 
are the ash, lactose and acid. 

The percentage composition varies considerably with the 
character of the cream and -the method of manufacture. The 
average composition of butter, made in different localities, dur- 
ing the several seasons of the year and under diverse methods 
of manufacture would approximate the following figures : 

Salted Butter Unsalted Butter 

Butterfat 82.5% 84.0 

Water 13.8 14.5 

Salt 2.5 0.0 

Curd 6 .85 

Ash 1 .20 

Lactose 25 .3 

Acid 15 .15 

Total 100.00 lOO.OO 

Thompson, Shaw and Norton^ in a study of the normal 
composition of creamery butter, analyzed 695 samples of dif- 

' Thompson, Shaw and Norton, The Normal Composition of American 
Creamery Butter, U. S. Dept. Agr., B. A. I. Bulletin 149, 1912. 



Composition and Properties oi< Butter 531 

ferent churnings of butter from California, Iowa, Michigan, 
Minnesota, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin, 
and found the maximum, minimum and average percentages of 
butterfat, water, salt and curd to range as follows : 

Table 71. — Maximum, Minimum and Average Percentages of 
Butterfat, Water, Salt and Curd^ in American Creamery Butter. 

Butter. 

695 Samples of Butter Fat Water Salt Curd 

% % % % 

Average 82.41 13.90 2.51 1.18 

Maximum 87.39 20.65 5.98 3.42 

Minimum 73.49 10.13 .68 .12 

A study of these figures shows a most unusual range be- 
tween maximum and minimum percentages of the several butter 
constituents, while the average percentage appears quite normal. 
The wide range of percentage composition may be due in part. 
at least, to the fact that over two-thirds of the samples an- 
alyzed represent butter from the very heart of the co-operative 
and small local creamery, the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin 
and Iowa. The average buttermaker in these creameries is 
more of an all around creameryman than an expert buttermaker. 
His knowledge of the art and science of moisture control is 
limited and the percentage composition of his butter is prone to 
lack in uniformity. 

Analyses of butter from the larger creameries, whose butter- 
makers are strictly churnmen, and whose skill in moisture con- 
trol is more highly developed, would undoubtedly show a much 
more uniform percentage composition, with a slightly higher 
average water and salt content and a slightly lower fat and curd 
content. 

The Butterfat. — The butterfat is the chief constituent of 
butter. It normally varies between about 80 and 85 per cent, 
averaging about 82^ per cent. Abnormal cases occasionally 
show variations within much wider limits. In rare cases butter 
has been found to contain as high as 90 per cent fat and as low 
as 72 per cent fat. 

* The term "curd" as used here Includes, in addiUon to the nitrogenous 
constituents, the ash and lactose. 



532 



Composition and Properties of Butter 



Normal variations in the percentage of butterfat in butter 
are due to its natural mechanical firmness which determines its 
power to absorb and hold water and by the process of manu- 
facture. The mechanical firmness of the butterfat is dependent 
on such factors as season of year, which largely controls the 
period of lactation and the character of the feed, and on locality 
which determines the breed of cows and, in part, the character 
of their feed. 

Butterfat is the fat of milk, milk fat is a natural compound 
of several different fats which vary in their properties. The 
chief of these fats are the olein, palmitin, myristin, stearin, 
laurin, butyrin, caproin, caprylin and caprin. 

These fats are present in the form of a chemical combination 
of glycerol (glycerin), as the base, and of one or more fatty 
acids, such as oleic, palmitic, myristic, stearic, lauric, butyric, 
capronic, caprylic and capric acids. 

These fats are spoken of as the glycerides. The proportion 
in which these glycerides, or fats, are present in the mixed milk 
fat varies according to breed, period of lactation and feed of 
the cows, hence analyses of milk fat derived from different 
sources are somewhat at variance. Richmond^ shows the follow- 
ing composition of milk fat : 



Table 72. Composition of Milk Fat. 



Fats 
(Glycerides) 


Fats 

(Glycerides) 

Per Cent 


Fatty Acids 
of These 

Glycerides 
Per Cent 


Glycerol 

of These 

Glycerides 

Per Cent 


Butyrin 

Caproin , 

Caprylin 

Caprin 

Laurin 

Stearin 

Myristin 

Palmitin 

Olein 


3.85 
3.60 
.55 
1.90 
7.40 
1.80 
20.2 
25.7 
35.0 


3.43 

3.25 

.51 

1.77 

6.94 

1.72 

19.14 

24.48 

33.60 


1.17 

.86 

.10 

.31 

1.07 

.19 

2.53 

2.91 

3.93 


Total 


100.0 







i Richmond, Dairy Chemistry. 



Composition and Properties of Butter 533 

Soluble or Volatile Fats and Insoluble or Non- Volatile Fats. 

— The milk fats are spoken of as soluble or volatile and insoluble 
or non-volatile fats. In reality none of the fats are soluble or 
volatile, but the fatty acids of some of the fats or glycerides, 
w^hen, as the result of the decomposition of the respective glyc- 
erides, they become separated from their base, the glycerol, be- 
come soluble and volatile. 

Some of the fatty acids are w^holly soluble and volatile, to 
these belong the butyric acid and the caproic acid; others are 
only partly soluble and volatile, to them belong the caprylic, 
capric and lauric acids; still others are entirely insoluble and 
non-volatile, to these belong the oleic, palmitic, myristic and 
stearic acids. 

Of the total milk fat about 8 to 12 per cent yield volatile 
and soluble fatty acids, while the remainder of 88 to 92 per cent 
are insoluble and non-volatile. 

It is generally accepted, though by no means fully experi- 
mentally proven, that the volatile fatty acids, of which the 
butyrin is the most important, gixQ the dairy products their 
characteristic odor and flavor and that they derive from the 
feed of the cows the characteristic feed flavors. Storch holds 
that it is the slimy, nitrogenous film which he claims surrounds 
each fat globule, that contains and is responsi1)le for the char- 
acteristic flavor and aroma. of butter. 

Melting Point of Milk Fats. — The melting point of the mixed 
milk fat ranges between about 90 and 99 degrees F. and the solidi- 
fying point ranges betwen 65 and 75 degrees F. Fleischmann^ 
gives the melting point at 31 to 36 degrees C. (87.8-96.8 degrees 
F.) and the solidifying point at 19-24 degrees C. (65-75 de- 
grees F.). The several fats or glycerides of which the milk fat 
is composed, dififer from one another largely in their melting 
points and in their solidifying points, and since the melting point 
and the solidifying point of the fat control the mechanical firm- 
ness or softness of butter, this fact is of the greatest importance 
in the art of buttermaking. The melting points of the several 
more important fats contained in milk are as follows : 



1^ Fleischmann — Das Buch der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 



534 Composition and Properties of Butter 

Table 73. 

Tri-butyrin —60 to —70" C. or —^76 to —94° F. 

Olein 5° C. or 41° F. 

Myristin 54° C. or 129° F. 

Palmitin 61° C. or 142° F. 

Stearin 65.5° C. or 150° F. 

Both the butyrin and the olein have melting points much 
lower than the other insoluble fats. A material increase in the 
proportion of butyrin or olein, or both, therefore suggests a 
lowering of the melting point of the mixed fat and vice versa. 
This fact has been amply demonstrated by Eckles^ and by Hun- 
ziker^. Exceptions to these facts are not infrequent, however, 
and they must be largely attributed to the fact that the volatile 
acids in such cases were made up of unusually high proportions 
of the less common constituents, such as caprylic, capric and 
lauric acids, whose melting points are 16.5, 31.3 and 43.6 de- 
grees C, respectively, as suggested by Eckles, or that the rela- 
tive proportion of the glycerides of the individual soluble and 
insoluble acids exclusive of oleic, must have exerted a dominant 
influence, as suggested by Hunziker. Again, Lewkowitsch^ 
points out that the melting point of a mixture of fats cannot be 
predicted from the melting points of the fats themselves ; and 
Twitchell* shows the interesting fact that a mixture of palmitic 
and stearic acids lowers the solidifying points of each other to 
a greater extent than a mixture of either of these twO' acids with 
oleic acid. 

Barring these exceptions, and for all practical purposes, the 
fact remains that a high percentage of butyrin, or of olein, or 
of both, causes the mixed butterfat to have a relatively low 
melting point, while a low percentage of butyrin, or of olein. 
or of both, causes the mixed butterfat to have a relatively high 
melting point. Therefore, in early summer, when, because of 
the freshening of the majority of the cows, the per cent of bu- 
tyrin is relatively high, and because of the cows gorging them- 

1 Eckles and Palmer — Influence of Plane of Nutrition of the Cow Upon the 
Composition and Properties of Milk and Butterfat. Missouri Research Bulle- 
tin 24, 1916. 

2 Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer — Moisture Control of Butter, Factors not 
under Control of the Buttermaker. Purdue Bulletin 159, 1912. 

3 Lewkowitsch — Chemical Technology and Analysis of Oils, Fat and 
Waxes, Vol. I, 1909. 

* Twitchell — Journal Ind. Eng. Chem., Vol. VI, p. 564, 1914; also Analyst, 
Vol. XXXIX, p. 448, 1914. 



Composition and Properties of Butter 535 

selves with succulent pasture grass, the per cent olein is also 
high, often amounting to about 50 per cent of the total fat, the 
melting point of the mixed fat is relatively low and the butter 
made from this butterfat is relatively soft. 

Physical Structure of Butterfat. — In freshly drawn milk and 
cream the butterfat consists of miscroscopic, liquid fat globules. 
These fat globules are present in the form of a fairly permanent 
emulsion in the skim milk which consists of water in which 
are dissolved the milk sugar, albumen and part of the milk ash, 
and which contains in suspension the casein. The casein is of 
colloid nature and the skim milk may logically be considered 
an emulsion of hydrated colloid. Milk and cream, then, are a 
fat-in-hydrated colloid emulsion, or a fat-in-skimmilk emulsion. 

The fact that the butterfat globules remain as independent 
units, and that they form this emulsion, is due to the fact that 
nature produces them in this fine state of division in the first place. 
Fisher and Hooker very interestingly show that the secretion 
of butterfat is the result of fatty degeneration of the cells in the 
alveoli of the mammary gland or udder. In this fatty degenera- 
tion the cells break down, liberating the minute fat globules in 
a fat-in-hydrated colloid emulsion, in which they retain their 
individuality because of the forces of surface tension, adsorption 
and viscosity, as explained under "Philosophy of Churning," 
Chapter X. 

Size of Fat Globules. — As previously stated the butterfat, 
or milk fat, is present in milk and cream in the form of very 
minute fat globules. These fat globules vary in size from 
about one micromillimeter to about 17.4 micromillimeters ; they 
average about from three to five micromillimeters in diameter. 
One micromillimeter, or one micron represents about one twenty- 
five tousandth of one inch. 

The size of the fat globules is controlled by breed and 
period of lactation of the cows, and it is influenced by temporary 
indisposition of the cows and abrupt changes in feed. 

The Channel Island breeds, the Jerseys and Guernseys, 
produce milk in which the fat globules average nearly three 
times as large in diameter as those in the milk from the Hol- 
steins and Ayrshires. 

At the beginning of the period of lactation the fat globules 
are largest. As the period of lactation advances the average 



536 Composition and Properties of Butter 

size of the fat globules gradually decreases and is smallest 
shortly before the cows go dry. See also Chapter X on Churning. 
The relative size of the fat globules exerts a marked in- 
fluence on the mechanical firmness of the butterfat and butter, 
and, therefore, on the moisture content of the resulting butter. 
Butter made from relatively large fat globules is much softer, 
churns much easier and more rapidly and contains more moist- 
ure than butter made from relatively small globules. This is 

Relative Size of the Smallest and Largest Globules Observed 



o 




Tig. 84 

Volume — .5236 cutoic microns Volume — 2758.32 cubic microns 

Diameter — 1 micron Diameter — 17.4 microns 

clearly shown by the results of Hunziker^, who, by centrifugal 
separation, produced different lots of cream from the same milk, 
containing average large globules (54.24 cubic microns) and 
average small globules (20.72 cubic microns). Sixteen churnings 
were made from each type of cream. The churning conditions, 
as to temperature of cream, time held, amount of cream, richness 
of cream, acidity of cream, etc., were the same for all churnings. 
The results are shown in the following table: The small-globule 
cream churned with difficulty, the butter required over twice 
as much time to "break" as the large-globule cream, and it 
formed round, hard, smooth granules, which did not pack read- 
ily, and made a very firm and crumbly butter. The large-globule 



Hunziker, Mills and Spitzer, Purdue Bulletin 159, 1912. 



Composition and PropivRTiks op Butter 



537 



Table 74. — Effect of Size of Average Fat Globules on Per Cent 
Moisture in Butter 



Experiment 
Number 


Large — Globule Cream. 
Average Volume of Globules 
54.249 Cubic Microns 


Small — Globule Cream. 

Average Volume of Globules 

20.724 Cubic Microns 


Churning 
Number 


Moisture in 
Butter Percent 


Churning 
Number 


Moisture in 
Butter Percent 


1 


1 


19.38 


2 


17.70 


3 


20.19 


4 


17.75 


2 


5 


26.62 


6 


21.24 




7 


26.28 


8 


19.20 


3 


9 


21.70 


10 


16.21 




11 


21.40 


12 


17.72 


4 


13 


19.05 


14 


16.03 




15 


18.54 


16 


15.47 




17 


19.76 


18 


15.69 


5 


19 


17.61 


20 


16.28 




21 


20.41 


22 


17.01 


6 


23 


20.61 


24 


16.28 




25 


23.06 


26 


17.20 


7 


27 


20.00 


28 


17.50 


8 


29 


18.50 


30 


18.14 


31 


19.95 


32 


17.17 


Average 




20.82 




17.29 



cream churned rapidly, formed soft, irregular, ragged-edged 
flakes, which packed readily and made a rather soft-bodied but- 
ter. The milk from which the two kinds of cream were produced 
came from cows of the same breed, of as nearly the same age 
and the same stage of the period of lactation as possible. 

These results suggested that the difference in the firmness 
of the butter may have been due to a difference in chemical 
composition of the fat, between the large and the small fat 
globules. Lemus^ and Klnsemair claim that such a difference 
does exist. Lemus found more volatile acid and less olein in the 
small fat globules than in the large ones. Kluseman states that 



1 Lemus, Diss. Leipzig, 1902. 
•Kluseman, Diss. Leipzig, 1893. 



538 



Composition and Properties of Butter 



the large fat globules contain more of both the volatile acids and 
the olein than the small fat globules. On the other hand, Siedel 
and Shaw and Eckles found no difference in the chemical com- 
position of the large and small fat globules of the same milk. 
Hunziker's results agree with the findings of the last four in- 
vestigators as shown in the Table 75. 

These findings suggest that the softer butter with the higher 
moisture content, resulting from the large-globule cream is not 
due to a lower melting point of the fat in these globules, but is 
largely due to physical or mechanical influences. The forces 
overcoming the surface tension are greater in the larger 
globules, causing them to lose their equilibrium and to collapse 
more readily, and yielding a butter with a softer body which is 
more miscible with water and which retains water more read- 
ily than the firmer butter, which results from the smaller fat 
globules. 

Table 75. — Chemical Composition of Butter Fat from Cream 

with Large Average Globules and from Cream with 

Small Average Globules. 



Large and 

Small-Globule 

Butter 


Reichert- 
Meissl 
Number 


Iodine 
Number 


Saponi- 
fication 
Number 


Melting 
Point 


Soluble 
Acids 

% 


Insoluble 
Acids 

% 


Refrac- 
tive 
Index 


Large 


30.34 
30.35 
30.20 
30.30 


28.92 
28.90 
29.50 
29.30 


232.2 
231.6 
231.3 
231.6 


33.9 
34.1 
33.7 
34.0 


6.07 
6.00 
6.09 
5.98 


88.90 
88.50 
89.15 
89.00 


42.2 


Large 


42.0 


Small 

Small 


42.0 
41.7 


Average large 
globules 


30.34 


28.91 


231.9 


34.0 


6.04 


88.70 


42.1 


Average small 
globules 


30.25 


29.40 


231.4 


33.9 


6.04 


89.08 


41.9 



The Water, Moisture Control. — The water in butter rep- 
resents quantitatively the largest non-fatty constituent of butter. 
Under normal conditions of manufacture the water content in 
finished butter ranges about from 12 to 16 per cent. In very 
abnormal cases butter has been found to contain less than ten 



Composition and Properties of Butter 539 

per cent and over 20 per cent water, but butter can be made to 
contain considerably less than 10 per cent and very much more 
than 20 per cent w^ater. The water content of butter averages 
about 14 per cent. 

The water content of butter after washing and draining, 
but before working and salting, and while the butter is still in 
granular form, under normal conditions of churning, firmness 
of butter and size of granules, generally averages above 16 per 
cent, but it varies considerably with the firmness of the butter 
and size of the butter granules. 

Other factors being the same, soft butter granules have a 
higher water content than firm and hard granules. In the case 
of normal firmness and very fine granules, similar in size 
to small rice kernels, the water content of butter before work- 
ing and salting averages around 20 to 24 per cent. In the form 
of small corn kernels butter averages around 17 to 18 per cent 
water and in still larger form, such as in lumps, the water 
content may drop below 16 per cent, always provided, how- 
ever, that the butter is of normal firmness at the time it "breaks." 

If the large granules or lumps are excessively soft, such as 
is the case when the churning temperature was too high in 
proportion to the melting point of the fat, then such lumps 
usually show a high water content. In such cases both the soft- 
ness of the butter and the over-churning are the direct result of 
the high churning temperature which causes the butter to 
"break" and gather so rapidly that excessive massing takes place 
before the churn is stopped. 

In unsalted butter and in properly worked, salted butter, 
the water is present largely in the form of microscopic droplets, 
varying widely in size and ranging in diameter from less than 
one micron (one twenty-five thousandth of one inch) to over 15 
microns (three five thousandths of one inch). In butter prior 
to working and in much of the salted butter there are present 
also considerable quantities of water in the form of large drops 
and water aggregates larger than drops. 

As previously stated with relation to the physical structure 
of butterfat and the philosophy of churning, butter represents 
an emulsion of hydrated colloid-in-fat, that is, it is an emulsion 
of buttermilk-in-fat. When the butter is worked, a portion of 



540 Composition and Properties oe Butter 

the buttermilk, that which adheres to the surfaces of the butter 
granules, is removed and replaced by the water and when the 
butter is salted and worked a portion of the remaining butter- 
milk and water is replaced by or fuses with, the brine, or both. 

When the butter is worked, most of the free water is ex- 
pelled, while the firmly held and finely emulsified microscopic 
droplets in the interior of the butter granules remain in the 
butter. For this reason, during the first stages of the working 
process the water content of butter decreases, and under normal 
conditions drops to about 13 per cent or slightly lower. 

As the working process progresses, the butter loses its 
granular state and becomes less friable and more plastic. When 
this state is reached further working causes the butter to "pick 
up" water from the churn and the water content increases again. 
The amount of water which the butter now assimilates and 
the extent to which the water content increases, depends on the 
mechanical condition of the butter, as determined by the melting 
point of the butterfat, the temperature of the cream and the 
washwater, and on the amount of water there is in the churn. 
The amount of water present in the churn obviously is largely 
governed by the extent of draining, with the churn doors ajar 
before and during the working process. If the churn is stopped 
with the doors ajar and down after every few revolutions of the 
churn, and the butter is allowed to drain completely each time, 
so that all the free water escapes, further working decreases the 
water content of the butter. 

But even when working with the churn doors closed, so 
that free water remains in the churn, a point is gradually reached 
when further working no longer materially increases the water 
content of the butter. A point of saturation has then been 
reached that does not permit of additional incorporation of 
water. The time when this point is reached depends largely on 
the mechanical firmness of the butter and the temperature of 
the water in the churn. The softer the butter and the warmer 
the water, the greater the amount of water that can be in- 
corporated before the point of saturation is reached. 

Conditions that tend to disturb the emulsion of buttermilk-, 
water-, or brine-in-fat, reduce the amount of water that is capable 



Composition and Properties oe Butter 541 

of remaining in butter In the form of very finely divided drop- 
lets, unaided by working. 

In sweet-cream, unsalted butter, the fine state of division 
of the water droplets present in butter before working remains 
practically intact and is not materially affected by working. 
In sour-cream butter the lactic acid present has a tendency to 
slightly lower the permanency of the emulsion by its action on 
the nitrogenous constituents of the buttermilk and such butter 
may be expected to show a slightly smaller number of very 
small droplets and a slightly larger number of larger droplets. 
The dift'erence, however, is very slight. 

In salted butter the effect of the salting-out influence of the 
emulsion is very marked and during the early stages of the 
working process salted butter shows a marked decrease in the 
number of small droplets and a decided increase in the number 
of the larger droplets. In this condition the water in butter is 
not permanently fixed, the emulsion is incomplete and the but- 
ter is leaky. This butter, therefore, has to be worked until the 
body is sufficiently plastic to permit, by means of the working 
process, the redivision and re-emulsification of the water droplets 
until the size of these droplets is again reduced nearly to the point 
that prevailed before the salting and working commenced, other- 
wise this butter remains permanently leaky. 

It may be logically considered, therefore, that the water in 
butter is present in two forms ; namely, in the form of very 
finely divided droplets, as originally emulsified and locked up 
in the granules during the churning process, and in the form 
of larger droplets, drops and aggregates of drops of free moisture,. 
which is loosely held in the interstices between the butter gran- 
ules and a part of which adheres to their surface. 

The control of moisture in butter, then, resolves itself into 
the retaining in the butter of the first form of water, the finely 
divided and thoroughly emulsified droplets originally present, 
and the dividing and emulsifying into the butter of a portion of 
the free water; and the ease with which the moisture content is 
controlled depends on the control by the buttermaker over the 
mechanical firmness of the butter and the temperature of the 
cream and wash water. 



542 Composition and Properties of Butter 

I'he natural firmness of the butter varies with locality and 
season of year, but the actual firmness can be controlled readily 
by the proper adjustment of the churning temperature, and the 
proper adjustment and control of the churning temperature is 
the foundation of satisfactory moisture control. When, in the 
spring, the butterfat becomes softer, the churning temperature 
must be lowered sufficiently to maintain the desired firmness of 
the butter. In the fall, when the natural change in the character 
of the butterfat tends towards a firmer butter, the churning tem- 
perature must be raised sufficiently to offset this change. The 
extent to which the butter is drained before, or during the work- 
ing process, or both, will further influence the control of its 
moisture content. 

In the case of unsalted butter, moisture control is largely a 
matter of giving the free water an opportunity to escape, since, 
under average conditions, the amount of water present in its 
original, finely divided and thoroughly emulsified form, repre- 
sents a very large portion of the total per cent of water that 
legal butter is permitted to contain. In unsalted butter the 
tendency naturally is toward a high moisture content. 

In the case of salted butter the salt, owing to its great 
affinity for water, causes a large number of the very small 
droplets to run together into drops and to escape as free water. 
Moisture control, here, therefore, has to do with the re-division, 
re-emulsification and reincorporation of a sufficient amount of 
the free water, in order to bring the per cent moisture back to 
that desired, and this is accomplished by proper working. 

Moisture Control. — Factory Directions. — Owing to the many 
and ever-changing factors which influence the property of the 
butter to retain or take up and hold water, such as type of churn, 
character of butterfat, churning temperature, etc., it is, as yet, 
not possible to reduce the art of moisture control to a mathemat- 
-ical, exact science, whereby a given formula may be depended 
upon to produce the desired results. Moisture control is an art. 
the success of which demands local experience and judgment on 
the part of the buttermaker, quite as much as scientific knowl- 
edge. For this reason, the specific method that should be used 
for best results, must be left to the judgement of the buttermaker, 
who, operating his churns daily, is familiar with his local condi- 



Composition and Propertie;s of Butter 543 

tions and is in the best position to know how to go about under 
his particular conditions. 

Attempts to reduce moisture control to a fixed method, by 
reducing the moisture content of butter by means of preliminary 
draining and working to a figure below the percentage desired, 
then testing for per cent moisture and adding the mathematically 
calculated correct amount of water to increase the moisture con- 
tent to the desired per centage in the finished butter, have not 
proven entirely successful. 

In the absence of the availability of a more specifically exact 
method, the following procedure is recommended : 

1. Have the churning temperature of the cream sufficiently 
low to complete the churning process in 40 to 60 minutes and to 
produce butter of a good firm body. Do not overload the churn 
and run the churn at about 30 revolutions per minute. 

2. Hold the cream at the churning temperature not less 
than two hours. 

3. Wash with water at a temperature the same, or nearly 
the same, as the temperature of the buttermilk, drain well and 
give the churn a revolution or two to bring the butter up on 
the shelves. 

4. If the butter happens to be unexpectedly soft, use wash 
water several degrees colder than the buttermilk. This condi- 
tion, however, tends toward a leaky body. 

5. If the butter happens to be excessively firm, use wash 
water a few degrees warmer than the temperature of the but- 
termilk. 

6. Trench the butter, distribute the salt uniformly over 
the entire trench, wet the salt with a small amount of water 
and close the trench. In the case of a tendency toward excessive 
moisture, omit wetting of the salt. 

7. Give the butter from 12 to 20 revolutions in a four-roll 
churn, or 25 to 35 revolutions in a two-roll or one-roll churn, 
according to needs, and test for moisture. 

8. If previous experience has shown that there is a tendency 
for butter to take up excessive moisture, stop the workers after 
every few revolutions of the churn and allow the butter to drain, 
with churn doors down and ajar and the churn swinging freely. 



544 Composition and Properties of Butter 

9. If previous experience has shown that there is a tendency 
for butter to be low in moisture, work with the churn doors 
closed. 

10. If the moisture test taken at the churn (see paragraph 
7) is high, allow the butter to set for a few minutes, then give 
the churn another revolution with the workers in gear and again 
let drain with the churn doors down and ajar. Repeat this until 
the test shows that excessive moisture is no longer present. 

11. If the excess moisture refuses to be expelled b)'' follow- 
ing directions in paragraph 10, remove the butter to the cooler 
in tubs or other containers, allow it to harden overnight. The 
next morning strip the tubs, cut the butter into small pieces w^ith 
wire, and rework as in paragraph 10. This will usually bring the 
moisture down to the desired point. 

12. If, after following directions in paragraph 11, the mois- 
ture is still excessive, put the butter in the cooler again and 
repeat the reworking next day. 

13. If the moisture test (see paragraph 7) is slightly too 
low, give the butter a few more revolutions with the churn 
gates closed and test again. 

14. If the moisture test (see paragraph 7) is considerably 
too low, calculate the amount of water needed to raise it to the 
desired point and add the calculated amount of water at a 
temperature a few degrees higher than the temperature of the 
buttermilk and work again with the churn doors closed until 
the desired per cent moisture has been reached. Calculate the 
amount of water needed by multiplying the difference between 
the test secured and the test desired ]:)y one ond one-fourth times 
the pounds of fat in the churn and divide by 100. 

Example : Test desired 15.9 per cent 

Test secured 13.5 per cent 

Difference 2.4 per cent 

Fat in churn 800 lbs. 

2.4X1.25X800 ^ . „ ^ . , , , 

— — m 24 lbs. water to be added. 

100 

15. It will be found, in following the above suggestions, 
that the results may fall short of those desired under many 
conditions, in which case they need modification to suit condi- 
tions. 



% 



Composition and Properties of Butter 545 

For instance, in churns in which the free water in the churn 
precedes the butter in its movement toward and through the 
workers, increase in moisture content may be found exceed- 
ingly difficult. Under these conditions great care should be 
taken not to drain and especially not to work the butter ex- 
cessively before salting. Continued working and draining before 
salting also renders complete solution of the salt difficult be- 
cause it may cause such a reduction of the moisture in butter, 
that not enough water is left to readily dissolve the salt and 
these conditions make the assimilation of free water difficult, 
in spite of overworking. 

The author's purpose of submitting these very inexact sug- 
gestions is merely to place before the buttermaker, especially if 
he be a beginner, some concrete idea of the principles involved 
and their practical application, which may assist him in working 
out his own method of moisture control that will best suit his 
local conditions and equipment. 

Relation of per cent moisture to quality of butter. — Within 
reasonable limits, not exceeding about 16 per cent, the moisture 
content of butter has no marked effect on its quality. Butter con- 
taining 16 per cent moisture, other conditions being the same, 
may have as good quality and may keep as well, as butter con- 
taining only 12 per cent moisture. Generally speaking, however, 
excessive moisture does not improve the quality of the butter, 
and it may give rise to butter of very inferior quality, develop- 
ing such ofif-flavors as oiliness and fishiness. This is not neces- 
sarily due so much to the actual amount of water present, but 
rather to the process of manufacture that was responsible for 
the high water content. 

Whenever the high per cent of water is the result of over- 
working the butter, quality is sacrificed. The breaking down 
of the grain and the emulsification of air in butter, which are 
inevitable incidents to such moisture incorporation, are antag- 
onistic to good flavor and keeping quality. They invite oxidation 
and other channels of decomposition. This is especially the case 
with butter made from sour cream. 

Butter made in summer readily holds 16 per cent water 
without overworking. Such butter is entirely normal, its grain 



546 Composition and Properties of Butter 

has suffered no mutilation. It may therefore be of just as good 
flavor and keeping quality as butter containing much less water. 
In fact, if the low-moisture butter required excessive working in 
order to reduce the water content, the high-moisture butter may 
be superior. 

On the other hand,, high-moisture butter made in winter is 
often very inferior to low-moisture butter, because overworking 
was necessary in order to hold up the moisture content. 

In winter, when the butterfat is naturally firm and the 
butter tends to be low in moisture, it may be preferable, from 
the standpoint of quality, if the buttermaker insists on incor- 
porating the maximum water permitted by law, to raise the 
churning temperature sufficiently to make the butter "come" in 
very slightly softer condition, rendering it more miscible with 
water and thereby making unnecessary excessive working, rather 
than to mutilate the body of very firm butter by overworking, 
always providing, however, that the slightly less firm butter is 
not overworked. The buttermaker should clearly understand 
that the less firm the butter, the greater the danger of over- 
working. Soft butter does not stand much working without 
injury to its grain. It also usually tends to have a leaky body. 

The Curd. — The curd represents the nitrogenous constitu- 
ents of butter. It is generally thought of as the casein (casein 
lactate) derived from the buttermilk. This impression may be 
somewhat erroneous, as it appears that there are other nitrog- 
enous substances in butter with properties differing somewhat 
from those of casein and casein lactate. Storch^ separated from 
butter a nitrogenous substance which formed a slimy precipitate 
in acetic acid, quite different from the usual white, cheeselike, 
lumpy or flocculent precipitate formed by the casein. This slimy 
precipitate was insoluble in weak ammonia, and in a 2 per cent 
solution of sodium, hydroxide, while the casein dissolves exceed- 
ingly readily in these solutions. According to Storch, this 
nitrogenous substance corresponds completely with a protein 
associated with the fat globules. He claims that on the basis 
of its insolubility in the above alkalies, this slimy substance 

1 storch — 36 Bericht des Koenigl. Veterinar- und Landbauhochschule- 
Laboratoriums, Kopenhagen, Denmark. 



Composition and Properties oe Butter 547 

constituted a little over 60 per cent of the protein, or curd, in 
butter, while the remainder of about 40 per cent is casein. 

Storch's findings and conclusions may assist in the explana- 
tion why, even when the churning process is stopped while the 
butter granules are still exceedingly minute, and when this 
butter is subsequently very thoroughly washed with repeated 
washings, so that the butter drains perfectly clear, it is not 
possible to reduce the curd content, as determined by the Kjel- 
dahl method, to any appreciable extent below about .4 per cent. 
This slimy protein substance does not wash out. 

The curd content of butter is determined and expressed in 
one or the other of two entirely different ways and yielding 
results in per cent curd, that differ from one another. One way 
is to determine the nitrogen content of butter, and by multiply- 
ing the results by the factor 6.38, expressing it as per cent 
protein. This represents the true curd content. The other way 
is to determine the per cent curd by difference. Ijy deducting 
the sum of the per cent of fat, moisture and salt from 100. In 
this case the per cent curd so obtained embraces, aside from the 
protein, also the traces of ash, acid and lactose contained in 
butter. This is termed the physiological curd. 

In the case of the true curd of butter, the percentage of 
curd usually fluctuates between about .5 per cent and one per 
cent, averaging about from .6 to .7 per cent, provided that the 
butter is washed in a normal manner. 

Butter made from sweet cream, and unsalted butter, has 
a slightly higher curd content than butter made from ripened 
cream and butter that was salted. Butter that is only very 
slightly washed contains more curd than butter in the manu- 
facture of which the churn is stopped when the granules are 
still very small and which are washed thoroughly. Butter that 
is not washed at all usually contains from about 1 to 1.5 per 
cent curd. 

In case of expressing the curd content as physiological curd, 
the percentage of curd averages from .5 to .6 per cent higher than 
the true curd. 

The Salt. — The salt is the one constituent of butter strictly 
foreign to the natural composition of butter, unsalted butter con- 



548 Composition and PropErtieis of Butter 

taining only very minute traces of sodium chloride as a part of 
its mineral content. Being- added to the butter, the amount of 
salt which butter may contain is controlled exclusively by the 
buttermaker. 

The great bulk of all butter manufactured in the United 
States is salted butter, and most of the foreign butter intended 
for export trade is also salted butter. 

Salted butter contains from about 1 to 5 per cent of salt. 
Most of the salted butter on the market averages from about 
2.5 to 4.0 per cent salt, and the great bulk contains between 3 
and 3.5 per cent salt. 

For the best interests of the butter industry, excessive salt- 
ing should be avoided and the per cent salt should be held 
down to below 4 per cent. 

The consumer's objection to excessively salted butter is 
clearly expressed by the San Francisco Wholesale Dairy Produce 
which issued a ruling that after February, 1, 1916, the salt con- 
tent of all butter coming into San Francisco shall be three per 
cent. They further state that practically all the butter that had 
been coming into San Francisco recently (prior to February 1, 
1916) contained a much higher per cent of salt and that one of 
the chief complaints on all butter was that butter contained too 
much salt. See also Chapter XI on Salting. 

The Lactose, C12 H,, O^ 4- H.O. — Normal butter contains 
from about .20 to .45 per cent of lactose, or milk sugar. The 
lactose is the sugar of milk which is present in solution in the 
milk, cream and buttermilk, and a portion of which the butter- 
granules, in their process of forming, pick up and lock up. The 
per cent lactose in butter obviously varies somewhat according 
to the extent of washing and removal of buttermilk. The more 
thorough the washing, the less lactose the butter will contain. 

In instances where skimmilk powder is added to the 
butter in the churn, such as is done in some creameries for the 
purpose of incorporating extraneous curd in the butter, the lac- 
tose content of the butter also increases. In experiments with 
skimmilk powder, conducted by Hunziker and Hosman,^ butter 
contained as high as 1.26 per cent lactose. 



1 Hunziker and Hosman — A Study of the Composition of Butter. Blue 
Valley. Research Laboratory, 1917. 



Composition and Properties of Butter 549 

The lactose content of butter decreases slightly in storage, 
partly because of the probable conversion of small portions of 
the lactose, through bacterial, or through chemical action, into 
lactic acid, glycolic acid and other acids, and partly due to loss 
of water or brine by leakage. 

The lactose is one of the unstable and readily fermentable 
constituents of butter, it rapidly yields to bacterial action, split- 
ting up into simpler compounds, of which lactic acid is a very 
prominent one, but not necessarily the only one. 

Under certain conditions lactose also readily yields to 
chemical decomposition detrimental to the market value of the 
butter. Being itself a powerful reducing agent, it invites and 
accelerates oxidation in butter, especially in a weakly alkaline 
condition. In butter made from over-neutralized cream, the 
lactose may give rise to most disastrous butter defects, such as 
bleached and tallowy butter, as demonstrated by Hunziker and 
Hosman.^ 

In butter with a decided acid reaction, on the other hand, 
lactose appears to have no deteriorating action, on the contrary, 
it tends to exert a slight, but distinct preservative influence. It 
is for this reason that some butter manufacturers purposely add 
lactose to their butter. 

The Acid. — Fresh butter contains from about .1 to .35 per 
cent acid, presumably largely, but generally not exclusively, 
lactic acid. In a similar manner, as in the case of curd and ash 
of butter, the acid is derived from the cream of which it is a 
natural constituent. Therefore, sweet cream butter contains less 
acid than ripened-cream butter, and butter made from sour 
cream that has been neutralized contains less acid than butter 
from unneutralized sour cream. Butter made from pasteurized 
cream contains less acid than butter made from raw cream. 
This is especially the case with the flash process, or high tem- 
perature pasteurization, as shown by Hunziker, Spitzer and 
Mills^ in Table 77. 

The decrease of the acidity of butter, due to pasteurization 
of the cream is in all probability due to the presence, in the raw 



^ Hunziker & Hosman — Tallowy Butter, Blue Valley Research Laboratory, 
also Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. I, No. 4, 1917. 

2 Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills — Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream for Butter Making. Purdue Bulletin 203, 1917. 



550 



Composition and Properties op Butter 



cream, of carbon dioxide and other volatile acids which are ex- 
pelled by the heat of pasteurization, and the higher the tem- 
perature of pasteurization the more readily do these volatile 
acids escape. It has been noticed also by the author and others 
that the reduction of acid due to pasteurization is much greater 
in the case of cream that had undergone considerable fermenta- 
tion before pasteurization, than in cream that is comparatively 
fresh and unfermented. 

Table 77.— Per Cent Acid in Butter Made from Different Por- 
tions of the Same Cream Before and After Pasteuriza- 
at 145« F. 20 Minutes, les*' F. Flash and 
185« F. Flash. 





Per Cent Acid in Butter. 




Raw 
Cream 
Butter 


Pasteurized Cream Butter. 




145° F. 
20 Minutes 


165« F. 
Flash 


1850 F. 
Flash 


Fresh butter 


.3260 


.2448 


.2250 


.2034 



In storage the acidity of the butter increases slightly, due 
to the breaking down of a portion of the milk sugar as shown 
in the following results by Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills,^ and 



Table 78. — Showing Relation of Per Cent. Lactose and Per Cent. 

Acid in Fresh and Stored Butter Made from Raw and 

Pasteurized Cream — Averages of 44 Churnings. 



Raw and pasteurized 


Age of butter 


Lactose 


Acidity 




decrease 


per 


increase 


cream 


months 


per 


in 3 


cent. 


in 3 






cent. 
.339 


months 




months 


Raw 


fresh 


.3073 




Raw 


1 month 


.367 




.3613 




Raw 


3 months 


.336 


.063 


.4073 


.1000 


145 degrees F. 20 minutes 


fresh 


.398 




.2565 




145 degrees F. 20 minutes 


1 month 


.360 




.2745 




145 degrees F. 20 minutes 


3 months 


.353 


.045 


.2835 


.027 


165 degrees F. flash 


fresh 


.388 




.2295 




165 degrees F. flash 


1 month 


.343 




.2543 




165 degrees F. flash 


3 months 


.315 


.073 


.2655 


.036 


185 degrees F. flash 


fresh 


.389 




.2093 




185 degrees F. flash 


1 month 


.360 




.2295 




185 degrees F. flash 


3 months 


.350 


.039 


.2655 


.056 



1 Hunziker, Spitzer and Mills — Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream for Butter Making. Purdue Bulletin 203, 1917. 



Composition and Propi^rties of Butter 551 

probably also as the result of partial cleavage of the proteins 
and fats. 

It was formerly believed that the acidity was favorable to 
the keeping quality of butter, and that ripened cream butter 
would keep better than sweet cream butter. The great bulk of 
experimental data on the relation of acidity to keeping quality, 
and the experience in the commercial manufacture of butter, 
have amply demonstrated that such is not the case. It is now 
conceded by the best authorities on the subject, that the acid 
content of butter, is one of the active agents, which, in com- 
bination with other factors, hastens decomposition, leading to 
the development of specific flavor defects, and shortening the 
life of good butter. 

The Ash. — The Ash, or mineral matter, is present in butter 
in very small amounts only, ranging from about .09 to .20 per 
cent. It very rarely exceeds .14 per cent and it averages about 
.12 per cent. It is derived from the ash of milk and cream and 
therefore has a similar composition as the ash of milk, which 
is as follows: 

Table 79. — Composition of Ash in Butter from Sour Cream, 
Butter Not Washed but Thoroughly Worked. ^ 

Potassium Oxide 19.329 per cent 

Sodium Oxide 7.714 

Calcium Oxide 23.092 

Magnesium Oxide 3.287 

Iron Oxide (Ferric) and Sulphuric Acid 288 " 

Phosphoric Acid (Anhydride) 44.273 " 

Chlorine 2.604 " " 

100.587 " " 
Less Oxygen Equivalent to Chlorine 587 

100.000 " " 

1 Fleischmann — I-ehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 



552 



Composition and Properties op Mii.k 
COMPOSITION OF MILK. 



Table 80. — Average, Maximum and Minimum Composition of 

Cow's Milk. 



Constituents 


Max- 
imum 
per ct. 


Min- 
imum 
per ct. 


Average Composition by Different 
Investigators 


of 
Milk 


Far- 

rington 

& WolP 

per ct. 


Van 
Slyke2 

5552 an- 
alyses 

per cent 


Eckles^ 
per ct. 


Bab- 

cock* 

per cent 


Fleisch- 
mann* 
per cent 


Water 

Fat 

Casein 1 

Albumin J 

Milk sugar 

Ash 


90.0 
7.8 

4.6 

6.0 
.9 


82.0 
2.3 

2.5 

3.5 
.6 


87.4 
Z.I 

3.2, 

5.0 
.7 


87.1 

3.9 

2.5 

.7 

5.1 

.7 


87.1 
3.9 

3.4 

4.75 
.75 


87.17 

3.69 

3.02 

.53 

4.88 

.71 


87.75 
3.40 
2.80 

.70 
4.60 

.75 


Total Solids 
Solids, not fat 




12.6 
8.9 


12.9 
9.0 


12.80 
8.90 


12.83 
9.14 


12.25 
8.85 



Specific gravity at 60° F. 1.029—1.034; average 1.032. 

Specific heat at 61-62.6° F. .9406— .9523. (Chanoz and Vaillant.) 

At 57-61° F. .9457, at 81° F. .9351 (Fleischmann.°) 

Freezing point —.54 to —.57° C. Average —.555° C. (31° F.) (Grim- 
mer.') 



Table 81. — Average Composition of Cow's Milk, by Major 
Breeds. Percentage of Fat in Total Solids.^ 



Breeds 



Holstein 

Ayrshire 

Guernsey. . . . 

Jersey 

Brown Swiss, 



Fat 
Per Cent 



3.45 
3.85 
4.98 
5.14 
3.91 



Total 

Solids 

Per Cent 



12.29 

12.98 
14.20 
14.90 
13.28 



Solid not 

Fat 
Per Cent 



8.84 

9.13 
9.22 
9.76 
9.37 



Parts of 

Fat in 100 

Parts of 

Total 

Solids 



28. 

29.6 
35.0 
34.5 
29.4 



1 Farrington and Woll, Testing Milk and Its Products, 1908. 

•Van Slyke, Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Its Products. 1916. 

•Eckles, Dairy Cattle and Milk Production, 1911. 

* Babcock, Wing Milk and Its Products. 1909. 

^ Fleischmann, Das Bucii der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 

« Grimmer, Chemie und Physiologic der Milch, 1910. 



Composition and Prope:rtie;s of Milk 



553 



Table 82. — Composition of Ash in Normal Cow's Milk.* 



Mineral Constituents In Milk 



Potassium oxide (potash) . . . 

Sodium oxide (soda) 

Calcium oxide (lime) 

Magnesium oxide (magnesia) 

Iron oxide (ferric) 

Sulphur trioxide 

Phosphoric pentoxide 

Chlorine 

Total ash 



In Ash 
Per Cent 



25.02 
10.01 
20.01 

2.42 
.13 

3.84 
24.29 
14.28 



100.00 



In Milk 
Per Cent 



.175 
.070 
.140 
.017 
.001 
.027 
.170 
.100 



.700 



Table 83. — Composition of Colostrum Milk. 



Time After Calving 


Specific 
Gravity 


Water 

% 


Fat 

% 


Casein 

% 


Albumin 

% 


Sugar 

% 


Ash 

% 


Total 
Solids 

% 


Immediately . . 
After 10 hours. 
After 24 hours. 
After 48 hours. 
After 72 hours. 


1.068 
1.046 
1.043 
1.042 
1.035 


73.07 

78.77 
80.63 
85.81 
86.64 


3.54 
4.66 
4.75 
4.21 
4.08 


2.65 
4.28 
4.50 
3.25 
3.33 


16.56 
9.32 
6.25 
2.31 
1.03 


3.00 
1.42 
2.85 
3.46 
4.10 


1.18 

1.55 

1.02 

.96 

.82 


26.93 
21.23 
19.37 
14.19 
13.36 



Table 84. — Composition of Ash in Colostrum Milk.^ 

Potassium oxide 7.23 per cent 

Sodium oxide 5.72 " 

Calcium oxide 34.85 

Magnesium oxide 2.06 " " 

Iron oxide (ferric) 52 " " 

Phosphoric acid (anhydride) 41.43 

Sulphuric acid 16 " " 

Chlorine 11.25 

103.22 " " 
Less oxygen equivalent to chlorine 3.22 

100.00 " " 

^ Leach — Food Inspection and Analysis, 1914. 

" Engllngr-Leach — Food Inspection and Analysis, 1914. 

* Fleischmann — Lehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 



554 



Composition and Prope;rties o^ Milk 



Table 85. — Composition of Mammalian Milks. 



Kind of 
Milk 



Analyst or 
Author 



o a 











fl 
















■o 




^ 














ft^? 




f^ 


?:!^ 






OJ 




C3 












mO 


^ 


H 


^ 


H 



1^ 
6 


c 

'as? 

< 


.18 


.32 


1.96 


2.36 


1.03 


1.26 


1.96 


.45 


.95 


.94 


2^5 


JO 


3.02 


.53 


2.44 


.78 


3.94 


2.01 


3.20 


1.09 


3.80 


1.20 


2.00 


1.67 


3.59 


.83 


5.69 


1.77 


4.97 


1.55 


4.60 


1.70 


3^63 


'73 



S5 



WOMAN— 
Minimum. 
Maximum . 
Average . . . 



cow- 
Minimum. 
Maximum . 
Average . . . 



GOAT— 
Minimum.. 
Maximum . 
Average . . . 



EWE— 
Minimum. . 
Maximum . 
Average . . . 



BUFFALO- 
Minimum.. 
Maximum . 
Average . . . 



Koenig* . , 

u 
u 

Grimmer^ 



Farrington &W0II' 



Van Slyke*. 
Babcock^. . . 



Koenigi . 



Fleischmann^ . 
Scheurlen^ . . . 



Koenig^ 



Sartori- 

Fleischmann* . 

Szentkiralyi^. 



Fleischmann* . 
Rimini'* 



200 
1 
1 



5552 



1.027 
1.032 



1.0348 
1.0285 

1.0290 
1.0340 
1.0320 



200 

Avg. 

1 



32 
2500 

Avg 



1.0280 
1.0360 
1.0305 
1.0320 
1.0313 

1.0298 
1.0385 
1.0341 
1.0377 
1.0369 

1.0310 
1.0336 
1.0323 
1.0339 



81.09 


8.60 


1.43 


.50 


91.40 


18.91 


6.83 


4.32 


87.41 


12.59 


3.87 


2.29 


88.13 


11.87 


2.24 


2.41 


89.47 


10.53 


3.02 


1.89 


82.0 


10.00 


2.3 


2.5 


90.0 


18.00 


7.8 


4.6 


87.4 


12.60 


3.7 


3.2 


87.1 


12.90 


3.9 


3.2 


87.17 


12.83 


3.69 


3.55 


82.02 


9.84 


3.10 


3.22 


90.16 


17.98 


7.55 


5.05 


85.71 


14.29 


4.78 


4.29 


85.80 


14.20 


4.50 


5.00 


87.11 


12.89 


4.45 


3.67 


74.47 


12.98 


2.81 


4.42 


87.02 


25.53 


9.80 


7.46 


80.82 


19.18 


6.86 


6.52 


78.70 


21.30 


8.94 


6.34 


83.00 


17.00 


5.30 


6.30 


81.56 


15.77 


6.69 


3.99 


84.23 


18.44 


9.19 


7.78 


82.69 


17.31 


7.87 


5.88 


82.93 


17.07 


7.46 


4.59 


81.67 


18.33 


9.02 


3.99 



3.88 
8.34 
6.21 

4^37 

3.5 
6.0 
5.0 
5.1 

4.88 

3.26 
5.77 
4.66 
4.00 
4.09 

2.76 
7.95 
4.91 
5.02 
4.60 

4.16 
5.18 
4.52 
4.21 
5.06 



.12 
1.90 
.31 
.25 
.32 

.60 
.90 
.70 
.70 
.71 

.39 

1.06 

.76 

.70 

.72 

.13 
1.72 

.89 
1.00 

.80 

.72 
.85 
.76 

.86 
.86 



^ Koenig — Chemie der Menschl. Nahrungs- und Genussmittel. Compiled 
by Leach. 

2 Grimmer — Chemie und Physiologie der Milch, 1910. 

' Farrington and Woll — Testing Milk and Its Products, 1908. 

* Van Slyke — Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Its Products, 1916. 

6 Babcock-Wing — Milk and Its Products, 1909. 

« Fleischmann — Das Buch der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 

' Richmond — Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 



Composition and Properties oe Cream 



555 



Table 85.— (Continued.)* 



Kind of 
Milk 



Analyst or 
Author 













.g 














T3 






























1^ 




?^^ 


O 
03 


^ 


^^ 




1^ 


§65 


S.2 


05 


O 




1 


03 

u 




C9 

h5 



^ 



Mare 

Ass 

Mule 

Sow 

Dog 

Cat 

Rabbit. . . . 
Guinea Pig 
Delphin . . . 
Whale 



Fleischmann* . . . . 

Koenig^ 

Vieth2 

Schlossman- 

Koenigi 

Ellenberger^ 

Aubert & Colby^ 

Leed^ 

Henry & Woll-. . 

Koenigi 

Koenig' 

Koenigi 

Pizzi^ 

Purdie^ 

Franklain^ 

Scheibe^ , 

Richmond' 



47 



Avg, 



1.0310 
1.0347 
1.0350 
1.0330 
1.0360 
1.0320 



1.0493 



90.70 
90.78 
90.13 
88.85 
89.64 
91.23 
89.14 
91.59 
80.96 
84.09 
77.00 
81.63 
69.50 
41.11 
48.76 
69.80 
48.67 



1.20 
1.21 
.94 
.36 
1.64 
1.15 
1.98 
1.59 
7.06 
4.55 
9.26 
3.33 
10.45 
45.80 
43.71 
19.40 
43.67 



2.00 
1.99 
1.65 
1.31 
2.22 
1.50 
2.31 
1.64 
6.20 
7.23 
9.72 
9.08 
15.54 
11.19 
7.57 
9.43 
7.11 



1.24 



.98 
.67 
.94 



4.15 
3.12 



.75 



.33 

1.55 

.53 



5.57 
5.96 



5.70 
5.67 
6.98 
4.94 
5.99 
6.00 
6.04 
4.80 
4.25 
3.13 
3.11 
4.91 
1.95 
1.33 

0.00 



.40 
.35 
.30 
.31 
.51 
.40 
.53 
.38 
1.07 
1.05 
.91 
.51 
2.56 
.57 
.46 
.99 
.46 



* For references to above table, see previous page. 



Table 86. — Composition of Cream. 



Constituenta 

of 

Cream 


By Centrifugal Separation 


By Gravity 
Creaming 


Snyder' 

% 


Rich- 
mond^ 

% 


Fleisch- 
mann^ 

% 


Fleisch- 
mann^ 

% 


Fleisch- 
mann' 

% 


Koenig< 

% 


Water 

Fat 


66.41 
25.72 

1 3.70 

3.54 

.63 

33.59 

7.87 


39.37 
56.09 

2.29 

1.57 

.38 

60.63 

4.24 


29.6 
67.5 

1.3 

1.5 

.1 

70.4 

2.9 


68.5 
25.0 

2.8 

3.3 

.4 

31.5 

6.5 


72.9 
20.0 

3.0 

3.6 
.5 
27.1 
7.11 


68.82 
22.66 


Casein 

Albumin 

Milk Sugar 

Ash 

Total Solids. . . . 
Solids not Fat . . 


3.76 

4.23 

.53 

31.18 

8.42 



Specific gravity. — See Standardization of Milk and Cream. 
Specific heat of cream testing 19.18% fat at 14-16° C. .9833; 
at 27.5° C. .8443 (Fleischmann).^ 



^ Snyder — Dairy Chemistry. 

- Richmond — iJairy Chemistry, 1914. 

* Fleischmann — Lehrbuch der Milchwlrtschaft, 1901. 

* Leach — Food Inspection and Analysis, 1914. 



556 



Composition and Propertieis of Skimmilk 



Table 87. — Composition of Ash in Cream.* 

Potassium oxide 28.381 per cent 

Sodium oxide 8.679 " " 

Calcium oxide 23.411 " " 

Magnesium oxide 3.340 " " 

Iron oxide (ferric) 2.915 " " 

Phosphoric acid (anhydride) 21.735 " " 

Chlorine 14.895 " " 

103.356 " '* 

Less oxygen equivalent to chlorine 3.356 " " 

100.000 " " 



Table 88. — Composition of Skimmilk. 



Constituents 

in 

Skim Milk 


Centrifugal Separation 


Gravity 
Creaming 


VanSlykei 

/o 


Snyder' 

% 


Rich- 
mond^ 

% 


Fleisch- 
rnann* 

% 


Fleisch- 
mann< 

% 


Water 


90.30 
.10 

2.75 
.80 

5.25 
.80 

9.70 


90.25 
.20 

1 3.60 

5.15 

.80 

9.75 


90.48 

.12 

3.22 

.42 

4.88 

.78 

9.52 


90.35 
.20 

} 4.00 

4.70 

.75 

9.65 


89.85 


Fat 

Casein 


.75 


Albumin 

Milk Sugar 


4.03 
4.06 


Ash 


.77 


Total SoUds 


10.15 







Specific gravity at 60° F. 1.035 to 1.038; average 1.036. 

Specific heat at 14 to 16° C. .9388; at 27.5° C. .9455 (Fleisch- 
mann)4; at 0° C. .940; at 15° C. .943; at 40° C. .952 (Hammer and 
Johnson)^. 



1 Van Slyke — Modern Methods of Testing Milk and Its Products. 
■ Snyder — Dairy Chemistry. 

* Richmond — Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 

* Pleischmann — Lehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft. 

" Hammer and Johnson — The Specific Heat of Milk Products. Iowa Re- 
search Bulletin 14, 1913. 



Composition and Prope;rtie;s of Buttermilk 



557 



Table 89.^ — Composition of Ash in Separator Skim Milk.^ 

Potassium oxide 31.634 per cent 

Sodium oxide 10.265 

Calcium oxide 21.913 

Magnesium oxide 3.115 " " 

Iron oxide (ferric) 921 

Phosphoric acid (anhydride) 19.478 " " 

Sulphuric acid (anhydride) 1.000 " " 

Chlorine 15.071 " " 



103.397 
Less oxygen equivalent to chlorine 3.397 

100.000 

Table 90. — Composition of Buttermilk. 



Constituents 

in 
Buttermilk 


Froca Ripened Cream 


From Sweet Cream 


Van 
Slykei 

% 


Storchs 
% 


Snyder^ 
% 


Vieth< 
% 


Fleisch- 
mann^ 

% 


Storch2 
% 


Rich- 
mond' 
% 


Water 


90.6 
.1 


90.93 
.31 


90.5 
.2 


90.39 
.50 


91.30 
.50 


89.74 
1.21 


90.98 


Fat 


.35 


Casein 

Albumin 


2.8 
.8 


^.37 


. 3.3 


3.60, 


3.50 


3.28 


3.51 


Milk Sugar. . . . 


4.4 


4.58 


5.3 


4.06 


1 4.00 


4.98 


/ 4.42 


Lactic Acid .... 


.6 






.75 


\ .01 


Ash 


.7 


.81 


.7 


.80 


.70 


.79 


.73 



Specific gravity of sweet-cream buttermilk 1.033P. 
Specific gravity of sour-cream buttermilk 1.0314®. 

Table 91. — Composition of Ash in Buttermilk.^ 

Potassium oxide 24.53 per cent 

Sodium oxide 11.54 " " 

Calcium oxide 19.73 " " 

Magnesium oxide 3.56 " " 

Iron oxide (Ferric) and Sulphuric acid 47 " " 

Phosphoric acid (anhydride) 29.89 " " 

Chlorine 13.27 " " 



Less oxygen equivalent to chlorine, 



102.99 
. 2.99 



100.00 



* Van Slyke — Modern Methods of Test Milk and Its Products. 
= Storch — Richmond's Dairy Chemistry. 

3 Snyder — Dairy Chemistry. 

* Vieth — Richmond's Dairy Chemistry. 

* Flelschmann — Lehrbuch der Milchwirtschaft, 1901. 

* Richmond — Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 



558 



Composition and Properties of Whey 



Table 92 


. — Composition 


of Whey. 




Constituents 

of 

Whey 


VanSlyke 

% 


Fleisch- 

mann 

% 


Koenig 

% 


Smetham 

% 


Vieth from 
Skim Milk 

% 


Water . 

Fat 

Casein 

Albumin 

Milk Sugar 

Ash 

Total Solids 


93.40 
.35 
.10 
.75 

4.80 

.60 

6.60 


93.15 
.35 

} 1.00 

4.90 
.60 

6.85 


93.38 
.32 

.86 

4.79 

.65 

6.62 


93.33 

.24 

.88 

5.06 

.49 

6.67 


93.00 
.09 

.92 

5.45 
.52 

7.00 







Specific gravity 1.025 to 1.028 (Fleischmann^). 
Specific heat, at 0° C, .0978; at 15° C, .976; at 60° C, .972. 
Hammer and Johnson. - 

Table 93. — Composition of Separator Slime. 



Water 

Fat 

Protein 

Milk sugar 

Other organic matter 

Ash 

Total milk solids . . . . 



Richmond" 


Fleischmann^ 


per cent 


per cent 


66.24 


68.20 


.50 


1.44 


22. 


25.34 


.50 

7.75 


j 1.80 


3.01 


3.22 


26.01 


30.00 



Table 94. — Composition of Ash in Separator Slime. ^ 

Potassium oxide 3.155 per cent 

Sodium oxide 1.325 

Calcium oxide 45.025 

Magnesium oxide 3.361 

Iron oxide (ferric) 1.846 

Phosphoric acid (anhydride) 43.976 

Chlorine 1.691 " " 



Less oxygen equivalent to chlorine, 



100.381 
.381 

100.00 



1 Fleischmann — Buch der Mllchwirtschaft, 1901. 

2 Hammer and Johnson — The Specific Heat of Milk and Milk Derivatives. 
Iowa Research Bulletin 14, 1913. 

" Richmond — Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 



Heai^thfulness of Buttfr 559 

Chapter XIX. 

HEALTHFULNESS, FOOD VALUE AND BIOLOGICAL 
PROPERTIES OF BUTTER 

Sanitary Purity and Healthfulness : The degree of free- 
dom of butter from products of decomposition and from micro- 
organisms harmful to man, must of necessity vary greatly with 
the purity of the raw material, the milk and cream from which 
the butter is made and with the process used for manufacture. 
And these factors in turn are subject to wide variations. 

Whole milk creameries which receive their milk in fresh 
condition and have exclusive control over the cream, are in a 
position to prevent undesirable fermentations that render both 
cream and butter unpalatable though not necessarily unwhole- 
some. All creameries receiving cream instead of milk, depend 
to a large extent on the cream producer for the quality and de- 
gree of freshness of their raw material. 

Most gathered-cream creameries receive their cream in more 
or less sour condition, the degree of acidity varying from sweet 
cream with no more than .2 per cent acid, to sour cream with an 
acidity of from .3 to 1.2 per cent and averaging about .5 per 
cent acid. The acidity of the cream naturally varies with such 
conditions as location, season of year, facilities and inclination 
of the producer to cool the cream on the farm, and frequency of 
delivery or shipment. 

Cream coming from territory in the southern tier of the 
dairy belt, where the climate is relatively warm and the temper- 
ature of the available water on the farm is too high to permit 
of sufficient cooling to check acid development entirely, will 
naturally average higher in acidity than cream produced in the 
northern sections of the dairy belt where the nights are general- 
ly cool and the available water for cooling the cream is cold. 

During the hot summer months the cream naturally con- 
tains a higher per cent of acid than is the case with winter cream. 
Farmers who have a proper understanding and appreciation of 
the importance of taking adequate care of their cream, and who 
are equipped with cooling tanks for the cooling and storing of 
their cream, are in a position to furnish a much sweeter cream 



560 Heai^thfuIvNEss of Butte;r 

than producers lacking this knowledge, appreciation and equip- 
ment. 

Creameries located in territories in which the cow popula- 
tion is dense, the herds relatively large and the radius of cream 
supply condensed, are able to receive cream with a lower acidity 
than creameries that draw their supply from territories with a 
sparse cow population, where the herds are small and far be- 
tween and where dairying is merely a side line of general farm- 
ing. In such territories the volume of cream is too small to 
permit of shipments or deliveries sufficiently frequent to insure 
its arrival in sweet condition. 

Aside from the production of acid in the cream, other fer- 
mentations may and frequently do set in, which tend to lower 
the quality of the cream and the flavor, keeping quality and 
market value of the butter. The great majority of these fer- 
mentations, while objectionable from the standpoint of the mar- 
ket value of the butter, are so far as is known, entirely harmless 
as related to the health of the consumer. In rare cases 
isolated cans of cream may contain matter of putrefaction. The 
shipment and acceptance of such cream is unlawful in most 
states. Such cream is rejected or discarded by the creameries, 
or confiscated by the health authorities. 

In the process of manufacture efforts are made to minimize 
the effect of the conditions which tend to jeopardize the keeping 
quality of the product. These efforts largely consist in 
standardizing the acidity of the cream by the use of a neutral- 
izer, in pasteurization to remove objectionable microorganisms, 
in using a pure culture starter of lactic acid bacteria to intensi- 
fy the desirable flavor, and in washing the butter with pure 
water to eliminate much of the buttermilk. 

None of these steps in the process of manufacture are ob- 
jectionable from the standpoint of the health of the consumer. 
The neutralizer most commonly used is milk of lime which in 
itself is a necessary food element of man and if it were taken 
up by the butter in appreciable quantities could do no possible 
harm. However, analyses have shown that butter made from 
cream in which the acidity was standardized by the use of lime, 
contained no appreciable increase in lime content over butter 
made from cream not so treated. Pasteurization has no noticeable 



H^AivTHFuLNEss OF Butter 561 

effect on the digestibility and wholesomeness of the butter. The 
use of lactic acid starter is bound to liave a salutary efifect on the 
wholesomeness of the butter, since lactic acid and lactic acid 
bacteria aid in digestion and assist in keeping the intestinal 
tract in a healthy condition. And the washing of the butter 
with pure water, aside from freeing the butter from much of 
the elements of buttermilk that yield most readily to decompo- 
sition, such as curd and lactose, assists in removing any soluble 
decomposition products if such products were contained in the 
cream. American butter contains no preservatives of any kind. 
The addition of preservatives to butter is prohibited by the 
Federal Pure Food Act which went in force January 1st, 1907. 

It may therefore, be safely stated that commercial butter 
is devoid of chemical ingredients, such as decomposition prod- 
ucts derived from the cream, or chemicals added in the process 
of manufacture, that have any known harmful effect on the 
health of the consumer. 

The number of bacteria, yeast and mold, that may be ex- 
pected to be found in sour, farm-skimmed cream, as is received 
at the average gathered cream creamery, is shown in Table 95. 
These figures represent 136 separate churnings, made at all 
seasons of the year. This table further shows the germ-killing 
efficiency of the holding and the flash process of pasteurization. 
It indicates that in either process the reduction of bacteria is 
very great, averaging over 99.9 per cent in the case of the 
holding process and about 99.5 per cent in the case of the flash 
process. 

The rate of reduction of the different types of micro- 
organisms was practically the same for one and the same process 
of pasteurization, showing that pasteurization, as practiced in 
the commercial creamery, is quite as efficient in its destruction 
of the more objectionable types of germs, such as the liquefying 
or peptonizing bacteria and the yeast and mold, as it is of the 
mere acid producing types. 

Freedom from Germs of Disease: Milk is capable of be- 
coming the carrier of germs of bovine diseases infectious to 
man, such as tuberculosis, foot and mouth disease, milk sick- 
ness, and of germs of human diseases such as tuberculosis, ty- 
phoid fever, scarlatina, diphtheria, etc. The question is there- 



562 



HealthfuIvNEss of Butter 



fore not only pertinent but very important, does butter made 
from milk and cream infected with these diseases, contain the 
disease germs or viruses and if so, is it capable of causing the 
disease among the consuming public? 

Table 95. — Average Number of Microorganisms of 136 Churn- 

ings of Raw and Pasteurized Cream and Per Cent 

Reduction Due to Pasteurization.^ 





Raw Cream 
Germs 
per c.c. 


Pasteurized Cream 


Types of Germs 


145° F. 20 Min. 


185° F. Flash 


Germs 
per 
c.c. 


De- 
crease 

% 


Germs 
per 
c.c. 


De- 
crease 

% 


Total Count 

Acidifiers 

Liquefiers 

Yeast and Molds. 


209,714,285 

123,985,714 

16,182,854 

4,032,000 


113,574 

42,928 

3,035 

2,201 


- 99.95 
99.97 
99.98 
99.95 


1,416,029 

837,357 

81,429 

16,782 


99.33 
99.33 
99.49 
99.58 



So far as the writer is able to determine there are no cases 
on record which show that any of these diseases were trans- 
ferred to man through the medium of butter. On the other 
hand, experimental data of considerable magnitude are recorded, 
which unmistakably show that cream produced either by 
gravity creaming or by centrifugal separation of milk infected 
with Bacillus tuberculosis, also contains this organism and that 
butter made from such cream, when inoculated into guinea pigs 
produced the disease and caused the animals to die from gener- 
alized tuberculosis. 

Thus Moore- showed that when milk containing tubercle 
bacilli is separated by centrifugal force, both the skim milk 
and the cream harbored these bacilli. Inoculation of the skim 
milk and cream, respectively, into guinea pigs caused them to 
die with the disease in 24 to 60 days. • Burri and Griflinger^ 
demonstrated that the products of tubercle-infected whey, sepa- 
rated by centrifugal force for the purpose of making whey butter, 

^ Hunziker, Spitzer and MiUs, The Pasteurization of Sour, Parm- 
Skimmed Cream for Butter Making, Purdue BuUetin 203. 1917. 

2 Moore, Inefficiency of Millt Separators in Removing Bacteria, U. S. 
Dept. of Agriculture, Yearbook, 1895. 

* Burri and Griflinger, Die Gefahr der Ausbreitung der Tuberkulose 
unter den Schweinen infolge der Verfiitterung nirl.t erhitzter Zentrlfugen- 
molke, Landw., Jahrbuch der Schweiz, 1915. 



HfiALTHFULNESS OF BuTTER 563 

caused tuberculosis in guinea pigs. Schroeder^ reports that 
when cream is separated from milk infected with Bacillus tuber- 
culosis, either by gravity or by centrifugal force, it also con- 
tains these germs, and that butter made from such cream con- 
tains the tubercle bacillus as determined by testing it with guinea 
pig inoculation. Broers- found that tubercle bacilli will live three 
days in milk, even when it has undergone changes that make it 
unfit for use as food, and twelve days in buttermilk, and that 
they remain virulent three weeks in butter. Cornet^ reports that 
Laser could find no live bacilli in butter after twelve days, that 
Heine records that all tubercle bacilli eventually die in butter 
and that their maximum life in it is thirty days, that Gasperini 
found a reduction of virulence after thirty days, though the 
bacilli were still alive after 120 days, and that Dawson did not 
observe a reduction of virulence until after the passage of three 
months, and claims to have produced tuberculosis in a guinea 
pig by inoculating it with butter eight months old. Schroeder 
and Cotton* state that living tubercle bacilli will retain their 
infective properties for at least 160 days in salted butter when 
kept without ice in a house cellar. They fed ov^er 60 guinea 
pigs, from time to time up to 100 days, with butter from a cow 
infected with tuberculosis. With the exception of five that died 
prematurely, and one that was killed, all died with generalized 
tuberculosis. Swithinbank and Newman^' tested 498 samples of 
market butter (in England) and found 76 samples or 15.2 per 
cent to contain tubercle bacilli. Schroeder^ states that since salt 
has distinct though weak germicidal properties, tubercle bacilli 
in heavily salted butter may live only a short time, while in 
unsalted butter they may live and remain virulent indefinitely. 
No appreciable attenuation of tubercle bacilli occurs in ordinary 
salted butter in 49 days, even though the butter has become 
rancid and moldy. They are still alive and capable of causing 
rapidly fatal tuberculosis in guinea pigs after 133 days. Mohler 
showed that 153 days is not long enough to kill them in butter 
held in cold storage under ordinary commercial conditions, and 



1 Schroeder, Milk and Its Products as Carriers of Tuberculosis Infec- 
tion, U. S. Dept. of Ag:r. B. A. I. Circular 143, 1909. 

2 Broers, Zeltschrlft fuer Tuberkulose, Vol. 10. No. 3. 1907. 
'Cornet, Die Tuberkulose, Second Edition, Vol. 1, 1907, pp. 122-123. 

* Schroeder and Cotton, The Relation of the Tuberculous Cow to 
Public Health, U. S. Dept. Agr. B. A. I. Circular 153. 

5 Swithinbank and Newman, Bacteriology of Milk, 1903, p. 221. 



564 Healthfui^ness of Butter 

Mohler, Washburn and Rogers^ further state that constant 
storage in an ic}'- temperature does not destroy the virulence of 
butter which contains dangerous tubercle bacilli and that no de- 
pendence should be placed on the action of the salt that is added 
to butter, as an agent in the destruction of tubercle bacilli, the 
action being very slight at best. The bacilli retained virulence in 
salted butter for six months. 

The findings quoted in the preceding paragraphs show con- 
siderable variations in the length of time butter infected with 
Bacillus tuberculosis retains virulent bacilli. However, this 
evidence shows conclusively that butter made from tubercle-in- 
fected milk or cream harbors these bacilli and is capable of 
spreading the disease. It further shows that neither does the 
separation of the milk by centrifugal force insure freedom of 
these bacilli in the cream nor does the salt in butter destroy 
their virulence. 

Fortunately the tubercle bacilli, as well as the germs and 
viruses of other common milk-borne diseases infectious to man, 
such as those of foot and mouth disease, typhoid fever, diphtheria, 
scarlatina, dysentery, septic sore throat, are readily destroyed 
by pasteurization of the milk or cream and all butter made from 
properly pasteurized milk or cream may safely be considered 
free from the germs or viruses of these diseases. Thus Rosenau- 
as the result of his own extensive investigations, and summariz- 
ing the work of other investigators of acknowledged authority 
states that it is justifiable to assume that ordinary market milk 
pasteurized by heating to 60° C. (140° F.) for 20 minutes, would 
be safe for human use by mouth so far as tubercle bacilli are 
concerned, that the virus of foot and mouth disease is killed 
with certainty at a temperature of 60° C. for twenty minutes, 
that milk heated to 60° C. for two minutes destroys the typhoid 
fever germs, that the diphtheria bacillus and the cholera vibrio 
die at comparatively low temperatures (55 to 60° C), that the 
dysentery bacillus is killed at 60° C. in ten minutes, that the 
infective principle of Malta fever, M. Melitensis, is destroyed at 
60° C. and that a temperature of 60° C. for twenty minutes is 



1 Mohler, Washburn and Rogers, The Viability of Tubercle Bacilli in 
Butter, U. S. Dept. of Agr. B. A. I. Twentieth Annual Report, 1909, 
pp. 179-185. 

- Rosenau, The Milk Question, 1912. 



HeaIvThfulness of Butter 565 

sufficient to destroy the virus of scarlet fever, streptococci and 
other pathogenic organisms. He therefore concludes that milk 
heated to 60° C. and maintained at that temperature for twenty 
minutes may be considered safe so far as conveying disease with 
the micro-organisms tested is concerned. Schroeder^ states that 
the minimum effective temperature of pasteurization that will 
destroy the non-spore bearing disease germs is 60° C. for twenty 
minutes. Mohler, Washburn and Rogers- recommend heating 
the cream to 60° C. for twenty minutes or to 80^ C. momen- 
tarily, as a reliable means to effectually destroy all the tubercle 
bacilli that may have found lodgement in it. Marshall^ holds 
that milk should be heated to 85° C. (185° F.) momentarily in 
order to insure freedom from tubercle bacilli. Ayres* reports 
that such disease producing bacteria as Bacillus tuberculosis. 
Bacillus typhosus, Bacillus diphtheria and the dysentery bacillus 
are destroyed when heated to 140° F. for twenty minutes and 
that the same process safeguards the public against the virus of 
scarlet fever. Dr. H. D. Pease,"' Director of the Lederle Labora- 
tories, New York City, who conducted an extensive investigation 
on the efficiency of the holding process of pasteurization to de- 
stroy the germs of tuberculosis, typhoid fever and diphtheria in 
milk, found that the use of temperatures from 142° to 147° F. for 
a fraction of a minute and the additional holding of the heated 
milk for thirty minutes, at temperatures ranging from 143° to 
145° F. is sufficient to insure the total destruction of these 
germs, even when present in milk in large numbers. His experi- 
ments were made with commercial equipment, under strictly 
commercial conditions and with milk heavily inoculated with 
these disease germs. 

In Denmark the pasteurization of cream for buttermaking 
at 82° C. to 85° C. (180° F. to 185° F.) is compulsory. 

Thes<e citations may suffifce to conclusively show that, since 
the milk and cream from which butter is made, may be and 
frequently are contaminated with germs of infectious disease, 



^ Schroeder, The Relation of the Tuberculous Cow to Public Health, 
U. S. Dept. Agr. B. A. I. Circular 153, 1910 

" Mohler, Washburn and Rogers, The Viability of Tubercle Bacilli In 
Butter. U. S. Dept. Ag-r. Twenty-sixth Annual Report. B. A. I., 1909. 

8 Marshall, Tuberculosis and Its Management, Mich. Bull. 184. 1900. 

*Ayres, The Pasteurization of Milk. U. S. Dept. Agr. B. A. I. Circular 
184, 1912. 

" Pease, Pasteurization Experiments, Lederle Laboratories, N. Y. City, 
1915. Results not published. 



566 Food Vai.ue of Butte;r 

both bovine and human, and since these disease germs are 
able to pass from infected milk and cream to the butter, and 
maintain their virulence in butter for a considerable length of 
time, regardless of salt content and low storage temperature 
of the butter, the public welfare demands that milk and cream 
used for buttermaking should be pasteurized. They further 
clearly indicate that the temperature to which the milk or cream 
should be heated, and the time of exposure necessary to destroy 
all non-spore bearing disease germs should be, for the holding 
process, not less than 145° F. for at least twenty and preferably 
thirty minutes, and for the flash process not less than 180° F. 
momentarily. 

In some states the pasteurization of cream for buttermak- 
ing is compulsory, and the result of recent investigations indi- 
cates that the great bulk, approximately 90% of all butter made 
in American creameries is manufactured from pasteurized cream. 
The processes of pasteurization used in the creameries are largely 
those above prescribed or their equivalent, so that it is reason- 
able to state that by far the majority of American factory-made 
butter that enters state and interstate commerce may be con- 
sidered safe from the standpoint of its freedom from virulent 
disease germs and viruses. 

Most of the farm dairy butter, however, is made from raw 
cream. If the cream from which it is made is free from disease 
germs it is obviously equally safe as the creamery butter, but 
similar to farm-peddled milk, which is rarely pasteurized, so 
does farm butter offer no guarantee as to its safety to the con- 
suming public. 

Digestibility and Caloric Value of Butter. 

Digestibility. — The digestibility of butter, based on the 
completeness of its utilization, or on its losses in digestion, is 
very high, similar to that of products containing other fats in 
about the same proportion. Thus Luhrig found the coefficient 
of digestibility to be 97.86 per cent for butter and 97.55 per cent 
for oleomargarine. 

The coefficient of digestibility of butterfat, or the percentage 
consumed that is assimilated, as determined by various investi- 
gators, and assembled by Langworthy and Holmes, is as follows : 



Food Value of Buttl;r 567 

Table 96. 

Fat Fat Assimilated 

Assimilated Investigator Per Cent 

Investigator Per Cent Huldgren & Landergren^. . . .95.4 

Rubner^ 96.3 Luhrig« 96.0 

Rubner^ 97.3 Luhrig« 97.0 

Malfatti^ 97.7 Wibbins and Huizenga' 97.3 

Mayer' 98.0 Wibbins and Huizenga' 96.5 

Mayer» 97.0 Von Gerlach^ 97.0 

Bertarelli* 94.0 Langworthy and Holmes'* 97.0 

Langworthy and Holmes* show the following comparative 
coefficients of digestibility, with allowance for metabolic products, 
for butterf ats, animal fats and vegetable fats : 

Table 97. 

Coefficient of Digestibility 
Kind of Fat Per Cent 
Butterfat 97.0 

Animal fats : 

Lard 97.0 

Chicken fat 96.7 

Goose fat 95.2 

Fish fat 95.2 

Egg yolk fat 93.8 

Beef fat 93.0 

Mutton fat 88.0 



'Rubner, Zeitschrift fiir Biologie, Vol. 15, No. 1. 1879, and Vol. IS, 
No. 1, 1880. 

3 Malfetti. Sitzber, K. Akad. Wiss. etc.. Vol. Ill, No. 5, 1884. 

'Landwirtschaftl. Versuch. Station. Vol. 29. 1883. 

*Bertarelli, Riv. Ig. e. Sanit. Pub. Vol. 9, Nos. 14 and 15, 1898. 

" Huldgren and Landergren, Skand. Arch. Physiol. Vol. 2, Nos. 4 and 5, 
1890. 

• Luhrig Zeitschift fiir Untersuch. Nahr. u. Genussmittel, Vol. 2, Nos. 6 
and 10, 1899. 

^ Wibbins and Huizenga, Pfliiger's Arch. Physiologie, Vol. 83, Nos. 10, 
11, 12. 1901. 

»Von Gerlach, Zeitschrift Phys. u. Diatet. Vol. 12, No. 2, 1908. 

•Langworthy and Holmes, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bull. 507, 1917. 

•Langworthy and Holmes, U. S. Dept. Agr., Bulletin 310, 1915; Bulletin 
505, 1917; Bulletin 510, 1917. 



568 Food Value; of Butte;r 

Table 97.— (Continued). 
Vegetable fats: 

Peanut oil 98.3 

Sesame oil 98.0 

Cocoanut oil 97.9 ■ 

Olive oil 97.8 

Cottonseed oil 97.8 

Cocoa butter 94.9 

On the basis of digestibility, however, butter is probably 
superior to most other fats. Sherman'^ points out that the fats 
generally retard the secretion of the gastric juice and tend to 
make the food stay longer in the stomach, and that to the ex- 
tent that the ease of digestion is inferred from the rapidity with 
which a meal passes through the stomach to the intestines, the 
eating of fat appears to retard the process, this being true to a 
greater extent, the higher the melting point of the fat. Lang- 
worthy and Holmes conclude that butterfat may be considered 
more completely assimilated, than any other of the animal fats 
which they considered in their investigation. This statement 
refers to lard, beef fat and mutton fat. 

Caloric Value. — ^The caloric calue of btitter varies with its 
composition. It largely depends on the per cent of fat contained in 
butter. The curd content is fairly uniform and is usually assumed 
to be about 1 per cent. 

The caloric value should be calculated only on the digestible 
nutrients. The coefficients of digestion in butter average about 94.1 
per cent for the curd, or protein, and 97 per cent for the fat. The 
digestible nutrients in butter with varying percentages of fat, 
then, are approximately as follows : 

r Protein ^"w^ = -^^^^^ 

80% < 

I Fat 80x97 ^ 77.60., 

100 

r Protein ^'"W^ = -941% 

82.5% -<^ ^y^ 

I Fat ^^-^"^^^ = 80.025% 

100 "^ 

r Protein "^^ = -941% 

L Fat 85jc97_ ^ S2A5% 

100 

» Sherman Food Froducts, 1916, P. 890. 



Biological Properties of Butter 



569 



A calorie (large calorie) is the amount of heat required to 
raise the temperature in 1,000 grams of water 1° C, The caloric 
value of protein is 4100, and that of fat is 9300. 1,000 grams 
are equal to 2.2 pounds, hence the caloric value of one pound of 
4100 



protem is 



2.2 



-= 1863, and the caloric value of one pound of fat 



• ^^^ Z1997 



The caloric value of one pound of butter containing 80, 82.5 and 
85 per cent fat, respectively, therefore is as follows : 



Butter with 
80% fat 



1% protein 



.941 X 1863 = 



18 Calories 



80% fat 



100 
77.6x4227 



100 



Total calories 



3,280 



3,298 



Butter with 
82.5% fat 



1% protein 

82.5% fat 



.941 X 1863 

100 

80.025 X 4227 



18 Calories 
3,382 



100 



Total calories 



3,400 



Butter with 

85% fat 



1 % protein 



85% fat 



.941 X 1863 = 
100 

82.45x4227 = 



18 Calories 
3,485 



100 



Total calories 



3,503 



Biological Properties of Butter 

Butter Contains Growth-Promoting and Curative Properties. 
— The butterfat of butter contains certain biological properties, 
which are not present in vegetable fats, nor in the ordinary ani- 
mal fats. These properties are absolutely essential for an ade- 
quate diet. A diet that is lacking in these biological properties 
is inadequate to produce normal growth in the young, it pre- 
vents well being of the adult and gives rise to certain deficiency 
diseases. 

By biological properties is meant those properties, recently 
discovered by McCollum\ and subjected to extensive investiga- 

1 McCoUum, The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition, 1918. 



570 



Biological Properties of Butter 



tion by McColltim, Hart, Steenbock, Fink, Hopkins, Osborne, 
Mendel and other nutrition experts and physiological chemists,' 
which have to do with the life functions of the living organism. 
These properties cannot as yet be determined by any now known 

TABLE 98 

AMOUNTS OF NUTRIENTS IN A POUND OF MILK AS COM- 
PARED WITH A POUND OF MEAT, BREAD AND 
OTHER FOODPRODUCTS.- 



Food materials 



Milk (1 pint or 1 pound): 

Whole milk 

Skim milk (0.3 per cent 

fat) 

Buttermilk 

Other food materials (1 lb. 

each) : 

Cheese 

Butter 

Beef: 

Round 

Shoulder clod , 

Sirloin 

Fore quarters 

Hind quarters 

Mutton, side 

Pork: 

Loin 

Ham 

Salt, fat 

Chicken 

Codfish: 

Fresh 

Salt 

Mackerel, salt 

Oysters, solids 

Wheat flour 

Corn meal 

Oatmeal 

Wheat bread ! 

Crackers 

Dried beans 

Beets 

Potatoes 

Turnips 

Apples ,...j 



Ref- 
use 



Lbs. 



0.08 

6.13 
0.19 
0.16 
0.19 

0.16 
0.14 

6.35 

0.30 
0.25 
0.23 



0.20 
0.15 
O.30 
0.25 



Edible portion 



Nutrients 



Water 
Lb. 



0.87 

0.90 
0.91 



0.34 
0.11 

0.61 
0.69 
0.53 
0.50 
0.51 
0.43 

0.44 
0.35 
0.07 
0.48 

0.58 
0.40 
0.38 
0.88 
0.12 
0.13 
0.07 
0.35 
0.08 
0.13 
0.70 
0.67 
0.62 
0.62 



Pro- 
tein 
Lb. 



0.03 

0.04 
0.03 



0.26 
0.01 

0.18 
0.19 
0.16 
0.14 
0.15 
0.13 

0.14 
0.13 
0.02 
0.15 

0.11 
0.16 
0.17 
0.06 
0.11 
0.09 
0.16 
0.10 
0.11 
0.22 
0.01 
0.02 

aoi 

0.01 



Fat 
Lb. 



0.04 

o.'oY 



0.34 
0.85 

0.12 
0.11 
0.17 
0.16 
0.17 
0.24 

0.25 
0.34 
0.87 
0.01 



0.17 
0.02 
0.01 
0.02 
0.07 
0.01 
0.10 
0.02 



Car- 

bohy. 

drated 

Lb 



0.05 

0.05 
0.05 



0.02 



0.03 
0.75 
0.75 
0.68 
0.53 
0.69 
0.59 
0.08 
0.15 
0.06 
0.12 



Mln. 

mat- 
ter 
Lb. 



0.01 

0.01 
0.01 



0.04 
0.03 

0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 

0.01 
0.04 
0.04 
0.01 

0.01 
0.19 
0.10 
O.Ol 
0.01 
0.01 
0.02 
0.01 
0.02 
0.04 
0.01 
0.01 
0.01 



Fuel 
value 



Cal. 



325 

170 
165 



1965 
3605 

870 

835 

1040 

950 

1000 

1275 

1340 

1655 

3715 

325 

205 

315 

1050 

235 

1645 

1655 

1860 

1205 

1895 

1590 

170 

325 

135 

255 



1 M'cCollum, The Newer Knowledge of Nutrition, 1918. 
^ U. S. Dept. of Agr., Farmers' Bulletin No. 74. 



Biologic Aiv Properties oe Butter 571 

method of chemical analysis, their presence has only become 
recognized by means of experimental feeding trials with young 
animals. 

These feeding trials, largely though not exclusively con- 
ducted with young white rats, showed that when the animals 
were put on an artificial diet, containing all the chemical ele- 
ments necessary for nutrition, both for maintenance and for 
growth, such as protein, carbohydrates, fats and mineral salts, 
but in which the fat part of the ration consisted of a vegetable 
oil or of lard, the rats would after a brief period cease to grow, 
so that they rarely attained more than two-thirds of the normal 
growth of fully grown rats. As this diet was continued they 
would lose weight and gradually develop sore eyes which culmi- 
nated in blindness and ultimate death of the rats. When, before 
the death of the rats, a portion of the animal or vegetable fat in 
the ration was replaced by butter or butterfat, they recovered 
from their disease, gained in weight and resumed their normal 
growth. 

Fat-Soluble A. — Further experiments in which the pure 
butterfat was separated from the butter, and the butterfat in- 
stead of the butter was used to replace a part of the lard in the 
feed ration, yielded identically the same results as in the case 
of butter, showing therefore that this growth-promoting and 
curative property of the butter is located in the butterfat. 
Being soluble in the butterfat, McCoIlum gave this unknown 
substance the name fat-soluble A. 

Fat-Soluble A Present in Liquid Portion of Butterfat. — 
Osborne and Mendel succeeded in concentrating the fat-solu- 
ble A substance contained in butterfat by fractional crystalliza- 
tion of the fat from alcohol. They found that the fat-soluble A 
substance remains in the mother liquor, or oily portions, those 
portions which have a low melting point, while the other por- 
tions, those that have a high melting point, proved entirely 
ineffective. This fact assists in explaining why beef fat, which 
also contains small quantities of this substance, is much less 
effective in its growth promoting powers than the butterfat. The 
liquid portion in the beef fat is relatively small. 

Fat-Soluble A Not Affected by Pasteurization, Neutraliza- 
tion or Age. — Additional experiments showed that the fat-soluble 



572 BioivOGiCAi, Prope;rties o-e Butter 

A substance is of a stable nature, and that it is neither destroyed, 
nor its growth-promoting and curative effect lessened by heat, 
saponification, or age. 

Butterfat boiled with live steam for several hours did not 
lose its biological properties. This is important, because it 
demonstrates conclusively, that the pasteurization of cream does 
not rob the resulting butter of its growth-promoting and cur- 
ative properties. Pasteurized cream butter is equally valuable 
therefore from the dietary standpoint as raw cream butter. 

Butterfat or butter when completely saponified into a soap, 
by admixture of alkali in excess, fully retains its growth-pro- 
moting and curative properties. Butter soap so made, when 
fed to the rats had the same biological effect as normal butter 
or pure butterfat. This fact is important because it removes 
every vestige of doubt that the reduction of the acid in sour 
cream by the use of an alkali, as practiced in so-called neutral- 
ization of sour cream, in no way destroys or weakens the 
growth-promoting and curative properties of butter. Butter 
made from sour cream that has been neutralized, has equal 
dietary value as butter made from cream that was not neutral- 
ized. 

Age does not change the biological value of butter. The 
changes which butter undergoes in storage fail to deprive it 
of its growth-promoting and curative effect. Butterfat held in 
the cold and at room temperature, in the light and in the dark, 
for ten months, when subsequently fed to rats which had 
ceased to grow and had developed the characteristic sore eyes, 
as the result of the absence in their diet of the fat-soluble A, 
brought about resumption of growth to normal stature, and 
recovery and healing of the eyes. The biological potency in all 
samples of butterfat held in storage was retained and was equal 
to that of fresh butter or fresh butterfat. This fact is impor- 
tant, because it furnishes indisputable proof that storage butter, 
relative to biological properties, is equally wholesome as fresh 
butter. 

Other Sources of Fat-Soluble A. — The only substances in 
which the fat-soluble A has been found, other than butter and 
butterfat, are the fat contained in the yolk of the egg, cod liver 
oil, leaves of plants and the fat of the vital organs. 



Deifinitions and Standards of Butter 573 

So-called Butter Substitutes Cannot Take the Place of But- 
ter. — This discussion makes it clear that there is no substitute 
for butter. So-called butter substitutes, all of which are largely 
made up of vegetable or animal fats, or both, cannot take the 
place of butter. They may have equal, or nearly equal, caloric 
value as butter, but they lack this most important property, the 
fat-soluble A, without which the diet is not complete. Their 
substitution for butter in the diet of the family is jeopardizing 
the well being, vitality and maximum mental and physical de- 
velopment and vigor of the child, and to that extent limits 
the future greatness of the nation. 

Chapter XX. 

DEFINITIONS AND STANDARDS OF BUTTER, MILK, 
CREAM, SKIM MILK AND BUTTERMILK 

Butter. — Butter manufactured in the United States is sub- 
ject to two standards and definitions ; the control of enforcement 
of each is vested in two separate and distinct institutions. 

One standard and definition deals with the maximum per 
cent moisture which by a ruling of the Internal Revenue De- 
partment was placed below 16 per cent. The other deals with 
the minimum per cent of fat which by a ruling of the United 
States Department of Agriculture was placed at 82.5 per cent. 

The Moisture Standard. — The moisture standard is based 
on the definition of butter by Act of Congress August 2, 1886, 
which reads as follows : 

"The food product usually known as butter, which is made 
exclusively from milk or cream, or both, with or without com- 
mon salt and with or without additional coloring matter," 
and by Act of Congress of May 9, 1902, which reads as follows : 

"That for the purpose of this act 'butter' is hereby de- 
fined to mean an article of food as defined in 'An Act defining 
butter,' also imposing a tax upon and regulating the manufac- 
ture, sale, importation, and exportation of oleomargarine, ap- 
proved August 2, 1886; that adulterated butter is hereby de- 
fined to mean a grade of butter produced, by mixing, reworking, 
rechurning in milk or cream, refining or in any way producing a 
uniform, purified or improved product from diflferent lots or 
parcels of melted or unmelted butter or butterfat, in which any 



574 Definitions and Standards of Butter 

acid, alkali, chemical, or any substance whatever is introduced 
or used for the purpose or with the effect of deodorizing or 
removing thereform rancidity, or any butter or butterfat with 
which there is mixed any substance foreign to butter as herein 
defined, with intent or effect of cheapening in cost the product, 
or any butter in the manufacture or manipulation of which any 
process or material is used with intent or effect of causing the 
absorption of abnormal quantities of water, milk or cream ; that 
'process butter' or 'renovated butter' is hereby defined to mean 
butter which has been subjected to any process by which it is 
melted, clarified, or refined and made to resemble genuine but- 
ter, always excepting 'adulterated butter' as defined by this act." 

In defining adulterated butter as distinguished from butter, 
the Internal Revenue Department offers the following explan- 
ation and makes the following ruling: 

"The definition of adulterated butter as contained in the 
Act of May 9, 1902, embraces butter in the manufacture of which 
any process or material is used whereby the product is made 
to contain abnormal quantities of water, milk or cream, but the 
normal content of moisture permissible is not fixed bv the act. 
This being the case it becomes necessary to adopt a standard for 
moisture in butter, which shall in effect represent the normal 
quantity. It is therefore held that butter having 16 per cent 
or more of moisture, contains an abnormal quantity and is 
classed as adulterated butter." 

This law and ruling is now in force. It makes unlawful the 
incorporation in butter of 16 per cent or more, of moisture, and its 
interpretation also makes unlawful the incorporation of extran- 
eous curd by working curd into the butter in the churn in the 
form of starter, casein or skim milk powder. 

The Fat Standard. — The fat standard is a part of the Federal 
Standards and Definition for Dairy Products, accompanying the 
passage of the Federal Food and Drugs Act June 30, 1906 and 
which became effective January 1, 1907.^ It reads as follows: 

"Butter is the clean, non-rancid product made by gathering, 
in any manner, the fat of fresh or ripened milk or cream into a 
mass, which also contains a small portion of the other milk con- 
stituents, with or without salt, and contains not less than eighty- 

' Standp.rds of Purity for Food Products, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 
Circular No. 19, 1906. 



Definitions and Standards of Butter 575 

two and five tenths (82.5) per cent, of milk fat. By act of 
Congress approved August 2, 1886, and May 9, 1902, butter 
may also contain added coloring matter." 

This standard has never been and is not now enforced. 

Within recent years the Federal Joint Committee on Defi- 
nitions and Standards for Food Products has had under advise- 
ment a revision of this butter standard and definition. This 
joint committee consists of three members each, the United 
States Bureau of Chemistry, the American Association of Offi- 
cial Agricultural Chemists and the Association of American 
Dairy, Food, and Drug Officials, under the chairmanship" of the 
chief of the Bureau of Chemistry. At the time of the comple- 
tion of this manuscript, no decision had as yet been reached.^-*'*-* 

Numerous states have definitions and standards for butter, 
most of them similar to the standard adopted by the United 
States Department of Agriculture as per circular No. 19. Few 
states have standards differing slightly from the above stan- 
dard. The State of Minnesota,^ by Act of the State Legisla- 
ture 1915, amended its section relating to the use of preserva- 
tives as follows : 

"Dairy Products — Preservatives. Sec. 1756. No person 
shall manufacture for sale, advertise or sell, any mixture or 
compound designed, or offered for sale or use, as an adulterant, 
preservative or renovator of milk, cream, butter or cheese, or as 
a neutralizer of the acidity of milk, cream, butter or cheese; nor 
shall any person add, or apply to milk, cream, butter or cheese, 
any borax, boric acid, salicylic acid, formaldehyde, formalin or 
other anti-ferment or preservative, nor any alcohol, viscogen, 
lime, salpeter, sal-soda, soda ash, or other neutralizer, provided 
however, that this section shall not apply to pure salt added to 
butter or cheese." 

The above section makes the practice of reducing the acid- 
ity in cream unlawful in the State of Minnesota. 



1 Veeder, McManus, Jones and McCabe, Attys. for Swift & Co., Sugges- 
tions for a Standard for Butter, presented to the Joint Committee on 
Definitions and Standards, November, 1917. 

' Hunziker, Butter Standards. Address before Joint Committee on Defi- 
nitions and Standards. Chicago, May, 1917. 

» McKay. Facts about Butter, Suggestions for a Standard, June, 1918. 

* Hunziker, Bouska, Borman and McKay, Statements on the Subject 
of Definitions and Standards of Butter, Presented to the Joint Committee 
on Definitions and Standards, September, 1918. 

» Farrell, Manual of the Dairy and Food Laws, Rules and Regulations, 
1915. 



576 



Definitions and Standards of Butter 



Generally speaking the state standards for butter are not 
enforced. The only butter standard that is systematically en- 
forced is the 16 per cent moisture ruling of the Internal Revenue 
Department. 

The following list shows the butter standards in some of the 
foreign countries, compiled by the United States Bureau of 
Chemistry : 

TABLE 99 

BUTTER STANDARDS IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES. 
Compiled By and Secured Through Courtesy of United States Bureau 

of Chemistry, 1919. 











Non-Fatty 


Boron 


Countries 


Date 
of Enact- 
ment of Law 


Fat 
Minimum 


Water 
Maximum 


MiUc Con- 
stituents 
Maximum 


Com- 
pounds as 
Boric Acid 
Maximum 






Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


Per Cent. 


Per Cent- 


Australia 


1902 


82 


16 




Belgium 


1900 






18^ 




Brazil 


1915 


80 








Canada 


1910 


82.5 


16 






Cuba 


1914 




15 






Denmark 


1911 










Domestic 






202 






Export 






16 






Germany 


1902 










Salted 




80 


16 




}.3 


Unsalted 




80 


18 




Great Britain 


1902 










Genuine 






16 




}' 


Milk-Bl'ded 






24 




Italy 


1890 


82 








Netherlands 


1909 


80 








New Zealand 


1913 


80 


16 






Queensland 


1902 


83 










19063 


80 


16 




.5 


Roumania 


1895 


82 


14 






Spain 


1908 




16 






Sweden 


1911 




16 






Switzerland 


1914 


82 








United States 


19024 
19065 


82.5 


16 




* 


Venzuela 


1916 


80-88 


10-15 


) Salt 2-10 
i C's'n 1-3 














Victoria 


1906C 


80 


15 






West. A'str'lia 


1911-12 


82 


15 







1 Butter which contains more than 18 per cent non-fatty constituents 
such as water, milk sugar, casein, must be sold under the designation 
"beurre laiteux" (milky butter). 

''Butter which contains over 16 per cent water, but less than 20 per 
cent water, must bear the designation "water butter" (Vandsmeer). 

« Allen's Commercial Organic Analysis, Fourth Edition, Vol. II, 1914. 

* Inforced by Internal Revenue Dept. 

» Standard of United States Department of Agriculture, not enforced. 

•Allen's Commercial Organic Analysis, Fourth Edition, Vol. n, 1914. 



Definitions and Standards of Milk 577 

MILK, CREAM, SKIMMILK AND BUTTERMILK 

On April 17, 1919, the Secretary of Agriculture issued, under 
Food Inspection Decision 178\ the following definitions and 
standards for milk, cream, skimmilk and buttermilk. These 
definitions and standards were adopted by the Joint Committee 
on Definitions and Standards July 30, 1917, and were approved 
by the Association of American Dairy, Food and Drug Officials 
August 3, 1917, and by the Association of Official Agricultural 
Chemists November 21, 1917 : 

"1. Milk is the whole, fresh, clean, lacteal secretion ob- 
tained by the complete milking of one or more healthy cows, 
properly fed and kept, excluding that obtained within fifteen 
days before and five days after calving, or such longer period 
as may be necessary to render the milk practically colostrum- 
free. 

"2. Skimmed milk is milk from which substantially all of 
the milk fat has been removed. 

"3. Cream, sweet cream, is that portion of milk, rich in milk 
fat, which rises to the surface of milk on standing, or is sep- 
arated from it by centrifugal force. It is fresh and clean. It 
contains not less than eighteen per cent (18%) of milk fat and 
not more than two-tenths per cent (0.2%) of acid-reacting sub- 
stances calculated in terms of lactic acid. 

"4. Whipping cream is cream which contains not less 
than thirty per cent (30%) of milk fat. 

"5. Pasteurized milk is milk that has been subjected to 
a temperature not lower than 145 degrees Fahrenheit for not 
less than thirty minutes. Unless it is bottled hot, it is promptly 
cooled to 50 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. 

"6. Buttermilk is the product that remains when fat is 
removed from milk or cream, sweet or sour, in the process of 
churning. It contains not less than eight and five-tenths per 
cent (8.5%) of milk solids, not fat. 

"7. Homogenized milk or homogenized cream is milk or 
cream that has been mechanically treated in such a manner as to 
alter its physical properties, with particular reference to the 
condition and appearance of the fat globules." 



1 Milk and Cream, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Food Inspection 
Decision 178, April 17, 1919. 



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580 Whey Butter 

Chapter XXI. 

WHEY BUTTER 

'Whey butter is the butter manufactured from whey, the by- 
product of the cheese factory. Whey contains from about 0.3 
per cent fat in the case of American cheddar cheese making, 
to about 1 per cent in the case of Swiss cheese making. 

Since the invention of centrifugal whey separators, it is 
possible to skim the whey very exhaustively and there is no 
consistent reason why the butterfat derived from the whey should 
not produce a butter equal in quality, or nearly so, to that of 
ordinary creamery butter, provided that the whey is skimmed 
promptly after it leaves the cheese vat, or cheese kettle, and 
that the whey cream is promptly and properly cooled until 
churned or until shipped. Sammis^ recommends that the sep- 
arator cream screw be so set as to secure a whey cream con- 
taining from 50 to 75 per cent of fat, so as to permit the addi- 
tion of a large amount of starter to this cream. He further 
recommends that on the evening before the day when the whey 
cream is to be churned about 75 to 100 per cent of a good, thick 
cold starter be stirred into the cream, that the cream be churned 
at 50 degrees F. or below, that the churn be stopped when the 
granules are still very small and washed with water at a tem- 
perature from 40 to 50 degrees F. These precautions are rec- 
ommended in order to facilitate the completeness of washing 
and because whey butter has a greater tendency than ordinary 
butter to soften on warming. 

Sammis states that buyers of whey cream for churning 
often pasteurize it when received, by heating it rapidly nearly 
to boiling, then cooling as quickly as possible, adding starter 
and churning the next day. 

The Federal law does not differentiate between whey butter 
and creamery butter. Whey butter is subject to the adulterated 
butter ruling which provides that when butter contains 16 or 
more per cent moisture it is classed as adulterated butter. 

The Legislature of the State of Wisconsin enacted the follow- 



^ Sammis, Making- Whey Butter at Cheddar Cheese Factories, Wise 
Bulletin 246, 1915. 



Renovated Butter 581 

ing law which defines whey butter and provides that all butter 
made from whey shall be classed, branded and sold as whey 
butter : 

Wisconsin Whey Butter Law 

"Whey Butter Section 4707d-3. — No person shall by himself, 
his agent or servant, sell, offer or expose for sale or have in 
his possession with intent to sell or exchange or deliver, any 
butter, manufactured in whole or in part, from whey cream, 
unless such butter shall have the words 'whey butter' conspic- 
uously stamped, labeled, or marked in plain Gothic letters, at 
least three-eights of an inch square, so that the words cannot 
be easily defaced, upon two sides of each and every tub, firkin, 
box or package containing said whey butter; or if such butter 
is exposed for sale uncovered, or not in a case or package, a 
placard containing said words in the form described in this 
section shall be attached to the mass in such a manner as to be 
easily seen and read by the purchaser. Any person who violates 
any of the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a mis- 
demeanor and upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not less 
than twenty-five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars^." 

RENOVATED BUTTER 

Definition: Renovated butter, or process butter, is a prod- 
uct which resembles butter and which is made from one or more 
parcels of butter, which has been or have been "subjected to 
any process by which it is melted, clarified or refined and made 
to resemble genuine butter, always excepting 'adulterated but- 
ter' as defined by this act."^ 

In order for butter to be subject to this definition, it must 
have been melted or reduced to a fluid oil, the melted oil 
must have been subjected to a process by which it is "clarified 
or refined," which may be done by skimming, aerating, washing 
and other processes, through the action of heat, cold, agitation 
or rest; and this melted and refined oil must then again be con- 
verted into a product "to resemble genuine butter," in appear- 
ance, consistency, texture and flavor. This last requisite is ac- 
complished by mixing the melted, refined oil with milk, or 



* Supplement to Wisconsin Dairy and Food Laws of August, 1913, 
Issued by Geo. J. Weig-le, Dairy & Food Commissioner, July. 1917. 
2 By Act of Congress approved May 9, 1902. 



582 Renovated Butter 

skimmilk, or buttermilk, or cream, sweet or sour, and by granu- 
lating the mix by cooling. Renovated butter may, or may not 
have added to it, common salt, or harmless coloring matter, or 
both. 

Renovated butter is usually made from an inferior grade of 
butter, the quality of which is such that the butter is no longer 
acceptable to the trade as eatable butter. It is made from pack- 
ing stock. 

Development of the Renovated Butter Industry. — The 
renovated butter industry had its inception in the presence upon 
the market, of butter of poor quality, that could neither be sold 
as butter nor made over into a salable quality of "ladles." It 
had to undergo processes that freed it from its obnoxious odors 
and flavors of which rancidity was a dominant one, before it 
could be made again to appeal to the palate. This industry, 
therefore, owes its existence to faulty methods of manufacture 
and of storing of butter. 

The renovated butter industry, then, is the result of efforts, 
on the part of the dairymen, butter merchants and others, to 
convert the surplus of poor country butter, or of packing stock, 
into a marketable product. The bulk of dairy butter made 
during the summer months is handled by the country store. 
For a considerable portion of this butter the country store 
has no immediate market. The butter accumulates and owing to 
its inherent poor keeping quality and the usually unfavorable 
conditions to which it is exposed, it deteriorates rapidly, and by 
fall it is generally of very poor quality. This butter is a 
burden to the store keeper and a drag on the market. 

Before the days of renovated butter, the only reasonably 
profitable method of handling this surplus was to rework the 
different lots together, adding salt and if necessary, color. This 
gave the product uniformity of body, salt and color. The flavor 
however, was not improved, except that heavy salting assisted 
in hiding to a limited extent the undesirable flavors. 

In the early eighties, various isolated attempts were made 
to free this butter from its disagreeable flavors. Levi Wells* 
states that "melting butter and separating the fat from the 

1 WeUs, Renovated Butter, Its Origin and History, U. 9. D«pt. of Agri- 
culture, 1905. 



Renovated Butter 583 

other ingredients, then canning the fat and shipping it to tropical 
countries to be used as a substitute for butter, was practiced in 
some sections of Europe many years ago, but restoring the in- 
gredients extracted and again converting the substance into 
butter is an American invention." 

"Renovated butter," began to appear on the markets of this 
country in considerable quantities in the early nineties. It was 
generally quoted and sold as creamery seconds. Its source and 
mode of preparation were unknown to the general public. Its 
keeping quality was poor. 

"The name renovated butter, was first adopted by the dairy 
and food commission of Pennsylvania, 1897, it being considered 
appropriate for the product involved, and one that conveyed to 
the consumer an idea of its nature. 

"In 1899 the legislatures of several states enacted laws re- 
quiring this product to be labeled and sold as renovated butter, 
and on May 9, 1902, through passage of the Grout bill, a 
Federal law became effective, which defined this product, and 
required its manufacture and sale under the name Renovated 
Butter, or Process Butter." 

Output of Renovated Butter in the United States.— The 
manufacture of renovated butter during the early years of this 
country grew rapidly and assumed very considerable propor- 
tions. In 1905 there were in operation in this country, accord- 
ing to Wells, 78 renovated butter factories with an investment 
of nearly $1,000,000.00. The total production during that year 
was 60,000,000 pounds of renovated butter, and the annual out- 
put and demand for the better grades seemed to be limited only 
by the availability of the packing stock. 

Within recent years, however, the output of renovated but- 
ter has been on the decline, largely as the result of the intro- 
duction and more general use of the farm cream separator, 
which caused more butterfat to be shipped to the creamery and 
less to be made into butter on the farm. The rapid development 
of the creamery industry and the increased demand for milk 
by the market milk plants, milk condenseries and ice cream 
factories, have further, reduced the annual production of farm 
butter. Less farm butter is made every year and this means less 
packing stock available for the renovated butter factory. If the 



584 Renovated Butter 

present trend of the butter industry may be accepted as a 
correct criterion of the future of the renovated butter industry, 
it may be consistently assumed that the days of the renovated 
butter industry are numbered, and that it will continue to de- 
cline, for the best interests of the milk and cream producer, 
who cannot afford to sell the product of the dairy cow on the 
basis of packing stock prices. 

Manufacture of Renovated Butter — Quality of packing 
stock. — The better the quality of the packing- stock the better 
will be the quality of the renovated butter. The packing stock, 
which largely consists of a poor grade of dairy butter, is 
gathered up by the renovated butter agents from country stores 
in all parts of the country where farm butter is made. It is 
packed in barrels and tubs and placed into cold storage until 
ready to be made over into renovated butter. 

Melting. — (The barrels and tubs of packing stock are emptied 
into the melting tank, which is a tank or vat, equipped in its 
bottom with a series of coils through which hot water is passed. 
Jacketed vats, similar to cheese vats, are also used for this pur- 
pose. In these vats or tanks, the butter is melted, at a relatively 
low temperature. The temperature of the melted fat is generally 
held at about 120 degrees F. or below. 

Clarifying. — From the melting vats the butter oil flows into 
the settling tank, which is usually cylindrical in shape, of con- 
siderable depth and has preferably a pointed bottom. Here the 
butter oil remains until the so-called slush, consisting of curd, 
water and other impurities, have settled to the bottom. The 
slush is then drawn off from the bottom and is passed through 
a centrifugal separator for the purpose of reclaiming any fat 
that may have escaped with the slush. A hollow bowl sep- 
arator is preferred for this separation. The residue, which con- 
sists largely of curd and is quite solid and dry, is used for the 
manufacture of paste by treating it with oxalic acid. 

Purifying. — The butter oil, thus freed from the slush, is now 
subjected to prolonged aeration. For this purpose it is con- 
veyed into large, cylindrical, jacketed tanks. A powerful cur- 
rent of purified air is blown through a distributing rosette lo- 
cated in or near the bottom of the tank, violently percolating 



Renovated Butter 585 

upward through the melted butter oil. The butter oil is kept in 
melted condition by the passage of hot water through the jacket 
of the purifying tank. It is aimed to maintain a temperature of 
approximately 110 degrees F. This aeration is continued until 
the liquid fat has became "Neutral," that is until apparently all 
foreign odor and free acids have been blown out of it. 

Addition of Starter. — This butter oil is now without flavor. 
In order to return to it, the characteristic butter flavor, starter 
made from skimmilk or whole milk is added. Lactic acid cul- 
tures, the same as are used in cream ripening, are employed for 
making this starter, care being taken that the starter does not 
become overripe, in which case there would be danger of 
impregnating the finished renovated butter with white specks. 
The amount of starter used varies greatly, ranging from about 
two per cent to fifty per cent. The starter is thoroughly mixed 
with the butter oil, either in the blower tanks or in special tanks 
equipped with mechanical agitators. 

Coloring, — It is usually not necessary to add color to the 
mixture. Most of the dairy butter surplus is made during the 
summer season, when butterfat has naturally a high color. In 
case the butter oil is deficient in natural color, a sufficient amount 
of artificial coloring matter is added to suit the market. 

Crystallizing. — The emulsion of butter oil and starter is 
plunged, in the form of a fine stream, into ice water, or water 
cooled by artificial refrigeration, to a few degrees above the 
freezing point. This sudden chilling immediately crystallizes 
the fat, precipitating it in the form of flakes. The crystallizing is 
accomplished in long vats filled with cold water. The end of the 
vat that receives the liquid butter oil is equipped with a revolv- 
ing paddle wheel. The fat drips down into the water slowly, 
as soon as it strikes the water it solidifies in the form of flakes. 
The revolving paddle wheel starts these flakes toward the op- 
posite end of the vat, so that the thin stream of melted fat 
always strikes the cold water direct and does not pile up on the 
flakes already formed. 

In the case the cooling is done in ice water, instead of 
in water kept cold by artificial refrigeration, cakes of ice are 
usually anchored in the bottom of the vat, so as to avoid warm- 
ing up of the water. 



586 Renovated Butter 

Ripening and Hardening. — As the flakes gather at the 
further end of the crystallizing vat, they are scooped out into 
large trays, placed on trucks w^hich are subsequently stacked 
into the ripening or hardening room. Here the butter is al- 
lowed to remain at a temperature of about 65 to 70 degrees 
F. for 12 or more hours. During this period of incubation, the 
butter ripens, developing flavor. Before salting and working, 
this butter is usually transferred to and held in a cold room in 
order to further chill and harden it. 

Salting and Working. — Next day these trays are emptied 
into combined churns and workers, sufficient salt is added 
and the butter is worked. Close attention is paid to the control 
of moisture keeping the moisture below 16 per cent, in order 
to comply with the law defining adulterated butter. 

Packing. — The renovated butter thus manufactured is 
placed on the market in firkins, tubs, wooden boxes, or in prints, 
bricks or rolls. When packed in tubs or boxes each package 
must contain not less than ten pounds, and when packed in a 
solid body or mass, there must be stamped or branded into the 
upper surface of the butter the words "Renovated Butter," in 
one or two lines, the letters to be of Gothic style, not less than 
one-half inch square and depressed not less than one-eighth inch. 

The prints, bricks and rolls must weigh not less than one- 
half pound. Each package must have stamped on the butter the 
words "Renovated Butter," in two lines, the letters to be of 
Gothic style, not less than three-eighths inch square and de- 
pressed into the butter not less than one-eighth inch. 

Every package must be marked on the outside on two sides 
with the words "Renovated Butter" in Gothic letters, not less 
than one-half inch square and so placed as to be plainly visible 
and easily read. The package must also bear the necessary 
revenue stamps and the manufacturer's declaration, saying that 
he has complied with the requirements of 'the law and the 
regulations authorized thereby. Renovated butter for export 
must be stamped and marked the same as for the domestic 
market. 

Markets. — The market for good grades of renovated butter 
is usually active in this country, as well as abroad. Quota- 
tions fluctuated before the war at from three to about seven cents 



Renovated Butter 587 

below creamery "extras." Then it usually sold about on a par 
with poor creamery "firsts" or good creamery "seconds." Since 
the conclusion of the war, renovated butter quotations have 
dropped very considerably, being as low as ten to fifteen cents 
below creamery "extras." 

Renovated Butter Definitions, Standards and Laws. — By 
Act of Congress, approved May 9, 1902, renovated butter is de- 
fined as follows •} 

"Sec. 4 . . . . 'Process Butter,' or 'Renovated But- 
ter' is hereby defined to mean butter which has been subjected 
to any process by which it is melted, clarified or refined and 
made to resemble genuine butter, always excepting 'adulterated 
butter,' as defined by this act." 

The following explanation of the definition and law on adul- 
terated butter, offered by the Department of Agriculture-, will 
assist as guidance in the interpretation of the renovated butter 
law, as above defined : 

"(f) But if, in such process, 'or in any (other) way,' 'any 
acid, alkali, chemical, or any substance whatever is introduced' 
or used, or if 'there is mixed (therewith) any substance foreign 
to butter,' or if in any way the substance is made to hold 'ab- 
normal quantities of water, milk or cream,' the substance or 
commodity is to be recognized and treated as 'adulterated but- 
ter* under this act. 

"(g) Renovated butter having 16 per cent or more of 
moisture will be held to contain 'abnormal quantities of water, 
milk or cream,' and be, therefore, classed as 'adulterated 
butter.' " 

As a part of the Standards of Purity for Food Products^ 
Supplementary to the Federal Food and Drugs Act, which went 
in force January 1, 1907, renovated butter was defined as follows: 

"Renovated butter, process butter, is the product made by 
melting and reworking, without the addition or use of chemicals 
or any substances except milk, cream or salt, and contains not 
more than sixteen (16) per cent of water, and at least eighty- 
two and five-tenths (82.5) per cent of milk fat." 

1 Revised Regulations concerning Oleomargine, also Adulterated butter 
and process or renovated butter, U. S. Internal Revenue Dept, Regula- 
tions No. 9. Revised July, 1907. ^„„^ 

2U. S. Department Agriculture, B. A. I. Order No. 127, 1904. 

« Standards of Purity for Food Products, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Circu- 
lar No. 19, 1906. 



588 IvADi^ED Butter 

Taxes imposed on the manufacturer and dealer of renovated 
butter : 

Sec. 4, Act of May 2, p. 1906. 

"That upon process and renovated butter, when manu- 
factured or sold or removed for consumption for use, there shall 
be assessed and collected a tax of one-fourth of one cent per 
pound to be paid by the manufacturer thereof and any fraction 
of a pound shall be taxed as a pound." 

"Manufacturers of process or renovated butter shall pay $50 
per year. Every person who engages in the production of process 
or renovated butter as a business shall be considered to be a 
manufacturer thereof. 

"Every manufacturer of renovated butter, before commenc- 
ing business or at least within the month in which liability to 
special tax commenced, must register with the collector of the 
district in which the business is to be carried on his name, or 
firm or corporate name, place of residence, nature of business, 
and the place where such business is to be carried on, and 
procure a special tax stamp at the rate of $50 per annum, which 
stamp he shall place and keep conspicuously posted in his estab- 
lishment or place of business; and on the first day of July in 
each year he must again so register and procure a new special 
tax stamp and post it as above stated." 

LADLED BUTTER. 

The product commonly known as "ladled" butter is a grade 
of butter made by mixing and reworking different lots or 
parcels of butter so as to secure a uniform product. This is 
known by various names to the trade. This product will not 
be held to be renovated butter unless in addition to being re- 
worked it is melted and refined. It will not be held to be 
adulterated butter unless materials foreign to statutory butter 
are added to it, or it is made to contain 16 per cent or more 
of water. Persons who engage in the production of "ladled" 
butter as a business will be held liable to special tax as manu- 
facturers of renovated butter if they melt and refine their prod- 
uct, and to special tax as manufacturers of adulterated butter 
if they use in it substances foreign to statutory butter or pro- 
duce a butter having 16 per cent or more of water. Persons 
who sell "ladled" butter which is adulterated, will be liable to 
special tax as dealers in adulterated butter. 



Standardization of Milk and Cream 589 

Chapter XXII. 

STANDARDIZATION, TESTS AND CHEMICAL 

ANALYSES OF MILK, CREAM, SKIM MILK, 

BUTTERMILK AND BUTTER 

Standardization of Milk and Cream for Butterfat 

In commercial creamery operation as well as in experimental 
work it frequently becomes desirable, and sometimes necessary, to 
standardize milk or cream of any richness to a definite per cent of 
fat. 

In case the milk is richer than desired, it may be reduced to the 
desired per cent of fat either (a) by simply adding skim milk, or 
milk of a per cent of fat lower than that desired, to the milk to be 
standardized, or (b) by skimming a certain portion of it and return- 
ing the skim milk to that portion which was not skimmed. If cream 
is to be standardized to a lower per cent of fat, the same method as 
given under (a) for standardizing milk is used, except that in addi- 
tion to skim milk and milk, cream of a lower per cent fat than that 
desired may also be used. It is never advisable, and under certain 
conditions it is unlawful, to reduce the per cent of fat in milk or 
cream by adding water. 

In the case the milk is lower in fat than desired, its fat content 
can be increased to the desired standard, either (c) by adding to 
the milk or cream, a sufficient quantity of milk or cream that is 
richer in fat than that of the standard desired, or (d) by skimming 
a portion of the milk to be standardized and returning the cream so 
produced to the portion of milk that was not skimmed. 

For the correct determination of the amount of skim milk, milk 
or cream to be added or the portion of milk to be skimmed, so as to 
utilize all of the milk or cream which is to be standardized, or of the 
correct amount of the milk or cream to be standardized and of the 
skim milk, milk, or cream to be added for standardization in order 
to obtain the desired volume of standardized mixture, it is necessary 
to apply a simple and accurate method of calculation. Such a method 
has been devised by Dr. A. R. Pearson.^ The following directions 
for standardization of milk and cream are based on Pearson's 
method : 



* A. R. Pearson, formerly Professor of Dairying, Cornell University, and 
now President Iowa State College, Ames, Iowa. 



590 



Standardization of Milk and Cream 



Draw a rectangle as shown below. In the center place the per 
cent of fat desired. In the upper and lower left hand corners place 
the per cents of fat contained in the milk or cream to be standard- 
ized and in the skim milk, milk or cream to be added. In the upper 
right hand corner place the difference between the figure in the 
center and that in the lower left hand corner, and in the lower right 
hand corner place the difference between the figure in the center 
and the figure in the upper right hand corner. The figures in the 
upper and lower right hand corners then represent the correct pro- 
portion of the two liquids which are to be mixed. The figure in 
the upper right hand corner refers to the liquid of which the per 
cent of fat is given in the upper left hand corner, and the figure in 
the lower right hand corner refers to the liquid of which the per 
cent of fat is given in the lower left hand corner. 



(a) Per cent fat of 
Milk to be stand- 
ardized 



(b) Per cent of fat 
of Milk to stand- 
ardize with 




Difference between 
(b) and (c) ; this 
represents propor- 
tion of (a) that 
must be used. 

Difference between 
(a) and (c) ; this 
represents propor- 
tion of (b) that 
must be used. 



Examples of How to Reduce Per Cent Fat in Milk or Cream 



Example 1. 

500 lbs. of 4 per cent, milk are to be reduced to 3.5 per cent 
milk by the use of skim milk containing .1 per cent fat. How much 
skim milk must be added? 

4 3.4 




.1 .5 

3.4 : .5 = 500 : X ; X = 73.5. 

73.5 lbs. of skim milk must be used to reduce the 500 lbs. of 4 
per cent milk to milk testing 3.5 per cent fat. 



Standardization of Milk and Cream 



591 



Example 2. 

2,000 lbs. of 45 per cent cream are to be reduced to 33 per cent 
cream by the use of 3 per cent milk. How much milk must be 
added ? 

45 30 




3 12 

30 : 12 = 2000 : X ; X = 800 

800 lbs. of 3 per cent milk must be added to the 2000 lbs. of 45 
per cent cream in order to reduce the fat in the cream to 33 per cent. 

Example 3. 

1000 lbs. of milk testing 4.5 per cent fat are to be reduced to 
milk testing 3.8 per cent fat. How much 40 per cent cream must 
be removed by skimming? 

4.5 36.2 




40 7 

36.2 : .7 = 1000 : X ; X = 19.3 

19.3 lbs. of 40 per cent cream must be removed from 1000 lbs. 
of 4.5 per cent milk in order to obtain milk testing 3.8 per cent fat, 
after the skim milk is returned to that portion of the 4.5 per cent 
milk which was not separated. 

Example 4. 

How much of the 4.5 per cent milk in Example 3 must be run 

through the separator to remove the 19.3 lbs. of 40 per cent cream ? 

4.5 
Amount of 40 per cent cream of each 100 lbs. of milk-^^: X 100 

= 11.25 lbs. 40 per cent cream. Hence, 11.25 : 100 =r 19.3 : X ; X 
= 171.55. 171.55 lbs. of the 1000 lbs. of 4.5 per cent milk must be 
separated in order to remove 19.3 lbs. of 40 per cent cream and 
to reduce the per cent fat in the remaining milk, after the skim milk 
is returned to it, to 3.8 per cent fat. 



592 



Standardization of Milk and Cre:am 



Examples of How to Increase Per Cent of Fat in Milk or Cream 

Example 5. 

500 lbs. of milk testing 3.2 per cent fat are to be standardized 
to secure milk testing 4.5 per cent fat. How much 5 per cent milk 
must be added? 

3.2 .5 




5 1.3 

.5 : 1.3 = 500 : X ; X = 1300 

1300 lbs. of 5 per cent milk must be added to the 500 lbs. of 3.2 
per cent milk in order to secure milk testing 4.5 per cent fat. 

Example; 6. 

1000 lbs. of milk testing 3.5 per cent fat are to be standardized 
to milk testing 4 per cent fat. How much skim milk, containing 
no fat, must be removed ? 

3.5 4 




.0 .5 

4 :.5= 1000 :X; X= 125 

125 lbs. of skim milk must be removed in order to standardize 
1000 lbs. of 3.5 per cent milk to 4 per cent milk. 

Example; 7. 

How much of the 1000 lbs. of 3.5 per cent milk must be skimmed 
in order to remove the 125 lbs. of skim milk required in Example 6? 

In order to answer Example 7, the richness of the cream sep- 
arated must be known. Assuming that the separator is set so as to 
skim a 30 per cent cream the answer is as follows : 

3 5 
Amount of cream per 100 lbs. of 3.5 per cent milk is --^ X 100 

= 11.67 lbs. cream. 

100 lbs. 3.5 per cent milk yield 11.67 lbs. of 30% cream and 
88.33 lbs. skim milk (100—11.67 = 88.33). 



Testing Milk and Cream for Acid 



593 



The removal of 125 lbs. of skim milk necessitates the separa- 
tion of 88.33 : 100= 125 : X, or 141.5 pounds of the 1000 lbs. of 
3.5% milk. 

Example 8. 

2000 lbs. of 32 per cent cream are wanted. How many pounds 
of skim milk starter and how many pounds of 38 per cent cream 
must be mixed? 

38 32 








_6 
38 



38 
38 



32 = 2000 :X; X = 1684 lbs. 38% cream 
6 = 2000 : X ; X = 316 lbs, starter. 

2000 lbs. 32% cream. 

In order to secure 2000 lbs. of 32 per cent cream, 1684 lbs. of 
38 per cent cream must be mixed with 316 lbs. of skim milk starter. 

TESTING MILK, CREAM AND STARTER FOR ACID 

The acidity in milk, cream and starter is intimately related to 
the flavor and keeping quality of the resulting butter. It is impor- 
tant for the creamery to know the acidity of the milk when it arrives 
at the factory so as to determine its fitness for manufacture. In 
the ripening of cream and starter the acidity expresses the degree of 
ripeness, and in the neutralization of sour cream the acidity must 
be accurately determined in order to enable the operator to use the 
correct amount of neutralizer that will reduce the acidity to the 
desired point. It is important, therefore, that the creamery use sys- 
tematically a simple, practical and accurate test of milk, cream and 
starter for acid. 

Principle of Acid Tests. — Numerous acid tests have been 
devised for this purpose, all of which are based on the principle of 
measuring the per cent acid by the amount of alkali needed to reduce 
a measured volume of the sample to be tested to the neutral point. 
These tests are devised on the basis that a given volume of a normal 
solution of an alkali neutralizes the same volume of a normal solu- 
tion of an acid. By the term "normal solution" is meant a solution 



594 TESTING Milk and Cream for Acid 

which is so prepared that one liter shall contain the hydrogen equiv- 
alent of the active reagent weighed in grams (Sutton).^ 

In other words, a normal solution of an acid is a solution 
which contains in one liter as much of the active reagent, the acid, 
as is represented by the molecular weight of the acid in grams. In 
the case of lactic acid (CaHgOg) the molecular weight is 90. 

A normal solution of an alkali is a solution which contains in 
one liter as much of -the active reagent, the alkali, as is represented 
by the molecular weight of the alkali in grams. In the case of 
caustic soda or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) the molecular weight is 
40. Since equal amounts of normal solutions of acids and alkalies 
neutralize each other, 1 c.c. of A'' Na OH (1 c.c. of a normal solu- 
tion of caustic soda or sodium hydroxide) neutralizes 1 c.c. of N C3 
HgOg (1 c.c. of a normal solution of lactic acid). 

The acid contained in milk, cream and starter is largely lactic acid 
and is always calculated as such. The alkali used for determining 
the per cent acid is sodium hydroxide (NaOH), commonly known 
as caustic soda. In order to know when a liquid is alkaline and when 
it is acid, or when enough alkali has been added to reduce all the 
acid and render the liquid neutral, a color indicator is used that shows 
different color reaction in acids and in alkalies. Of the several indi- 
cators available, that known as phenolphthalein is most commonly 
and most suitably used in acid tests of milk and cream. In acids, 
such as sour milk, sour cream and starter, phenolphthalein is color- 
less similar as water. In alkaline solutions, such as sodium hydrox- 
ide, phenolphthalein turns to a deep pink color. Hence, when 
enough sodium hydroxide has been added to milk, cream or starter, 
to neutralize all the acid, these products turn pink. The moment a 
permanent faint pink color appears, the test is completed and the 
number of cubic centimeters of sodium hydroxide needed to produce 
this permanent faintly pink tint, serves as the basis upon which the 
per cent acid is calculated. 

In order to augment the sensitiveness and accuracy of the test, 

alkaline solutions, much weaker than a normal solution, are used. 

In most tests the alkaline solution is a tenth normal solution of 

N 
sodium hydroxide (^^ NaOH). 

The alkaline solution must be of standard strength, it must be 
accurate, otherwise the test cannot be dependable in its results. It 



1 Farringrton & Woll, Testing: Milk and Its Products. 



Testing Milk and Cream for Acid 595 

is not feasible for the average creamery which has no chemical 
laboratory, and no skilled chemist, to weigh out the dry sodium 
hydroxide and to make up the desired strength solution from it. 
Attempts to do this work under ordinary creamery conditions almost 
invariably result in alkaline solutions that are not of standard 
strength and that yield erroneous tests. 

The creamery may, however, purchase standard alkaline solu- 
tion of a strength suitable to be used without further dilution, or it 
may purchase a concentrated standard alkaline solution which can 
be diluted in accordance with the directions furnished on the bottle, 
or it can purchase the chemically pure, dry sodium hydroxide of 
exact known weight and dissolve the contents of the entire package 
in the necessary amount of distilled water, or the sodium hydroxide 
may be purchased in the form of tablets of known strength, which, 
when dissolved in a given amount of water, produce the desired 
standard solution. 

Any of the above enumerated forms of alkali will yield standard 
alkahne solutions, when purchased from a reliable supply house, 
when diluted with or dissolved in the correct amount of distilled 
water, or rain water, or other water free from alkalies or acids, and 
when care is taken that all of the alkali contained in one and the 
same purchased container is used and that none of it is spilled. For 
creameries that are not equipped with a chemical laboratory and that 
do not have the services of a skilled chemist the purchase and use 
of sodium hydroxide in any of the forms enumerated above will 
generally place at their disposal uniformly accurate alkaline solu- 
tions. 

For creameries that maintain their own chemical laboratory, 
the following method, devised by Hunziker and Hosman,^ may as- 
sist in the further "fool-proofing" of tenth normal alkali solutions : 
Use a common large stock bottle, a two gallon bottle, such as can 
be readily purchased from and easily replaced by any drug store. 
These bottles, when filled to just below the neck, hold 7500 cubic 
centimeters. Fill them with water to the 7500 c.c. mark and mark 
the 7500 c.c. level by a scratch on the shoulder of the bottle with a 
file. Crush in a mortar, or otherwise, sodium sticks and weigh 30 
grams of the crushed sticks each into glass tubes. The tubes should 

1 Hunziker and Hosman, A Practical M'ethod for the Preparation of Accu- 
N 
rate — NAOH Solutions for Acid Tests. Blue Valley Research Laboratory. 



596 Testing Mii,k and Cream for Acid 

be constructed of reasonably thin glass, the ordinary test tubes used 
in the chemical laboratory are very suitable for this purpose. They 
should have an outside diameter of % inch and should be about 7 
inches long, so that they readily slip through the mouth of the two- 
gallon bottle. 

Seal these tubes by fusing the glass over the flame. In order to 
make up a tenth normal solution, all the operator has to do is to 
drop one of these tubes filled with dry sodium hydroxide into the 
two-gallon bottle. The tube breaks as it strikes the bottom of the 
bottle, releasing the alkali. Now fill the bottle with water to the 
scratch on the shoulder. Mix thoroughly by placing hand over 
mouth of bottle and inverting it several times, until the alkali is all 
dissolved. This is now a tenth normal solution which is ready for 
use. 

When the solution has been used up, empty the bottle of the 
remnant of solution and the broken glass tube, drop into the bottle 
a fresh tube and again fill up with distilled water and mix. 

If commercial sodium sticks are used, which are not chemically 
pure, from 31 to 32 grams are required, according to the extent of 
impurities present. In this case the sodium hydrate should be care- 
fully titrated against standard acid, sO as to determine the exact 
amount of sodium' hydrate to be weighed into the glass tubes that 
will yield, in the 7500 c.c. of distilled water, a tenth normal solution. 

Calculation of Per Cent Acid When a Tenth Normal Solution 

of Sodium Hydroxide is Used 

N N 

T-r NaOH neutralizes 1 c.c. -r^ 



1 c.c. 77^ NaOH neutralizes 1 c.c. tp, CHeOg 



N . . . . 

1 c.c. oi a. Yf\ lactic acid solution contains .009 grams lactic 

acid. 

Hence, in order to find the per cent acid in milk, cream or 

starter, multiply the cubic centimeters of alkali solution required to 

neutralize the milk or cream with .009, divide the product by the 

grams of milk or cream used and multiply by 100. 

N 
c.c. r^ alkali solution X -009 

— X 100 = % lactic acid. 



grams milk or cream 

For all practical purposes the measuring of the milk or cream 
gives sufficiently accurate results to obviate the less practical and 



Testing Milk and Cream for Acid 597 

more time-consuming work of weighing. While the size of the 
sample may vary, factory experience has shown that 18 grams 
makes a very practical sample. It represents enough material to 
insure reasonable accuracy and it obviates complex calculations to 
determine the per cent acid. In the case of milk the 18 grams are 
measured with the standard 17.6 c.c. Babcock test pipette. In the 
case of cream an 18 c.c. or possibly a 9 c.c, pipette is used. The 
cream pipette must be rinsed with water and the rinsings added to 
the sample. 

Example : 7 A c.c. of tenth normal alkali solution are required 
to neutralize 18 c.c. of cream to a faint pink color. What is the 
per cent acid? 

7.4 X .009 ^ jQQ ^ 37^^ ^^.^ 

lo 
Or, for more rapid calculation, simply divide the c.c. alkaline 
solution required, by 20. 

-^ = .37 per cent acid. 

If instead of an 18 c.c. pipette, a 9 c.c. pipette is used, then only 
one-half as much alkaline solution, or 3.7 c.c, is required and the 
per cent acid is calculated as follows : 

^■' ^ -^^ X 100 = .37%' acid. 

Or the c.c. alkaline solution required is simply divided by 10. 

3 7 

jK= .37 per cent acid. 

Phenolphthalein indicator is prepared by dissolving 1 gram dry 
phenolphthalein in 100 c.c. of a mixture of one-half alcohol and one- 
half water. 

Standard Acid Tests and their Equipment for Factory 
Use. — The following are practical and satisfactory acid tests, the 
equipment and chemicals for which can be readily secured from 
glassware manufacturers and from dairy and creamery supply 
houses : 

Mann's Acid Test. — Apparatus needed : 50 c.c. graduated 

burette with burette stand for measuring the alkaline solution ; a 50 

c.c. pipette for measuring the cream, a white cup and stirring rod or 

teaspoon. 

N 
Reagents needed: ^^NaOH (a one-tenth normal solution of 



598 Testing Milk and Cream for Acid 

sodium hydroxide) and an alcoholic solution of phenolphthalein. 
Both of these solutions may be purchased from creamery supply 
houses or chemical supply houses. 

Making the Test. — With the 50 c.c. pipette transfer 50 c.c. of 
the cream into the white cup, rinse pipette with water and add rins- 
ings to sample in cup. Add one-half c.c. of phenolphthalein solu- 
tion. Fill the 50 c.c. burette with the tenth normal solution of 
sodium hydroxide. Run this solution slowly from the burette 
into the white cup, stirring the cream constantly. Each drop of 
sodium hydroxide will give the cream a pink color which at first 
immediately disappears. As more of sodium hydrate solution is 
added the pink color disappears more gradually until, when the neu- 
tral point has been reached the pink color of the cream remains con- 
stant for several minutes. When this point is reached, that is, when 
upon stirring a faint pink color remains in the cream, enough sodium 
hydroxide has been added and the test is completed. Now read off 
on the graduations of the burette the number of c.c. of decinormal 
alkali solution that was used and multiply this by the factor .018. 

( ' cr> X 100 ^ .018). This gives the per cent acid in the cream. 

N 
Example. — 35 c.c.yp- NaOH are required to neutralize 50 c.c. 

of cream. What is the per cent acid ? 

50 ^ ^^^' °^ ^^ ^ '^^^^ •^'^^'' ^^^^' 

The detection of the pink color is facilitated by adding a pipette 
full of water to the cream in the cup before titrating. 

A Practical Factory Test. — For practical creamery operation 
the Mann's acid test is modified to the extent of using a 17.6 c.c. 
pipette for milk or an 18 c.c. pipette for cream instead of a 50 c.c. 
pipette. Measure 17.6 c.c. or 18 c.c. of the milk or* cream to be 
tested into the white cup. Add 5 drops of phenolphthalein indi- 
cator and then add tenth normal alkaline solution from the burette 
until a permanent faintly pink color appears, stirring the milk or 
cream in the cup with the rod while adding the alkaline solution. 
Do not add alkali until the sample is deep pink. If not sure that 
the neutral point has been reached and that enough alkaline solution 
has been added, pour one drop of phenolphthalein indicator into cup. 
If the milk or cream turn pink the test is completed, if no pink color 



Testing Milk and Cream for Acid 



599 



appears, add more alkaline solution from the burette. When the 
test is completed divide the number of c.c. tenth normal alkaline 
solution required to produce the pink shade, as indicated on the 
graduation of the burette, by 20. The result represents per cent 
acid. ^ 

Example. — 12 c.c. -j^: NaOH are needed to neutralize the 18 c.c. 
of milk or cream. 

20 



.6 per cent acid. 




Tig. 85. 



Nafis Alkali Bottle and Bnrette for Acid Test 
Courtesy of Louis F. Nafis 



Farrington Alkaline Tablet Test. — Apparatus Needed. One 
100 c.c. graduated glass cylinder with stopper; one 17.6 c.c. Bab- 
cock pipette ; one white cup. 

Reagents. — Farrington Alkaline tablets. 

Making the Test. — Dissolve 5 tablets in 97 c.c. water in the 
glass cylinder. As these tablets require about six hours for com- 
plete solution it is advisable to place the tablets in the water in the 
cylinder on the evening before the day when the solution is to be 



600 Testing Mii,k and Cream for Acid 

used ; stopper tightly and lay the cylinder horizontally. This insures 
complete solution by the time the tablet solution is needed. When 
ready for the test, pour with the pipette 17.6 c.c. cream into the 
white cup and add tablet solution from the cylinder until the cream 
remains faintly pink. Then read off the number of c.c. of tablet 
solution used on the graduations of the cylinder. Each c.c. tablet 
solution represents .01 per cent acid. 

Example. — 60 c.c. tablet solution are required to neutralize the 
cream, in the cup. 60 X .01 = .6 per cent acid. The Farrington 
alkaline tablets are especially convenient because they contain both 
the alkali and the indicator. They may be purchased from any 
creamery supply house. They should be kept perfectly dry and in 
the dark. Otherwise they will weaken and the indicator will bleach 
out. For maximum accuracy an 18 c.c. pipette should be used for 
cream, 

Marshall Acid Test. — Apparatus Needed. One alkaline solu- 
tion bottle with graduated burette, one 9 c.c. pipette, one white 
cup, one bottle for indicator. 

Reagents Needed. — Tenth normal solution of sodium hydro- 
xide (neutralizer) and phenolphthalein indicator same as in 
Mann's test. 

Making the Test. — With the pipette pour 9 c.c. of cream into 
the white cup ; add a few drops of indicator. Fill neutralizer bottle 

N . 

with the -j^ solution of sodium hydroxide. Fill the graduated bur- 
ette by tipping the bottle until the burette is full and run neutralizer 
from the burette into the cream in the cup until the cream remains 
slightly pink. The number of c.c. of neutralizer solution used, as 
indicated on the graduation of the burette, represents per cent acid- 
ity. 

Soxhlet-Henkel Acid Test. — This test is very similar to the 
previous tests, but instead of expressing the results in number of 
cubic centimeters of decinormal alkaline solution required, as is the 
case in Mann's acid test, or in per cent of acid in the cream as is the 
case of the Farrington Tablet test and the Marshall Acid test, the 
Soxhlet-Henkel Acid test gives its results in degrees acid. One 
degree is equivalent to approximately .045 per cent acid or to 2.5 c.c. 
decinormal alkaline solution of Mann's acid test using 50 c.c. of 
cream. In this test a one-fourth normal solution of sodium hydrate 
is used for neutralizing the acid. 



Dkte;rmination of Specific Gravity 601 

Apparatus Needed. — One Soxhlet-Henkel titration apparatus 
consisting of one 50 c.c. graduated burette with pinch cock ; one solu- 
tion bottle with double perforated stopper and equipped with rubber 
bulb and connection with burette ; one 50 c.c. pipette for measuring 
cream ; one white cup or porcelain dish ; one 2 c.c. pipette for meas- 
uring the indicator. 

Reagents Needed. — One-fourth normal solution of sodium 
hydrate and an alcoholic solution of phenolphthalein. 

Making the Test. — With 50 c.c. pipette pour 50 c.c. of the 
cream to be tested into the white cup. Add 2 c.c. of the phenolphtha- 
lein indicator. Fill the burette to the top graduation with the alkaline 
solution from the bottle by pressing the rubber bulb. Then draw 
from the burette enough of the alkaline solution into the cup until 
after rotating the cup, or stirring the contents, a faint pink color 
remains. The number of cubic centimeters of the alkaline solution 
required, as shown on the graduation of the burette, are termed 
decrees of acid. Each cubic centimeter of the one-fourth normal 
alkaline solution represents one degree of acid. 

This method was later modified by Soxhlet-Henkel to the extent 
of using 100 c.c. of cream instead of 50 c.c. and increasing the phe- 
nolphthalein from 2 c.c. to 4 c.c. Here again each cubic centimeter 
of one-fourth normal alkaline solution required to neutralize the acid 
in the cream represents one degree of acid. In this case one degree 
of acid is equivalent to .0225 per cent acid, or 1.25 c.c. of decinormal 
alkaline solution of Mann's test. In stating the degree of acid 
by the Soxhlet-Henkel method it is necessary therefore to know 
whether they refer to the use of 50 c.c. or of 100 c.c. of cream. 

DETERMINATION OF SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF MILK 
SKIM MILK, CREAM AND BUTTERMILK 

Definition. — By the specific gravity of a liquid is meant the 
weight of a given volume of the liquid, such as milk, skim milk, 
cream, etc., as compared with the weight of the same volume of 
water at the same temperature. The specific gravity of water is 1. 
That is, one cubic -centimeter of water weighs one gram. Milk is 
heavier than water, therefore its specific gravity is greater than that 
of water. Average milk has a specific gravity of 1.032. The specific 
gravity is usually determined or calculated at a temperature of 60" F. 

The specific gravity of Hquids is readily determined by means 



602 



Determination of Specific Gravity 



of instruments called hydrometers. The hydrometer is a 
floating glass spindle, so constructed that it rests in the 
liquid to be tested in an upright position. The spindle bears 
a graduated scale on which the specific gravity, or its equiva- 
lent at a given temperature (usually 60° F.), can be read at 
a glance. In order to make the divisions on the scale as far 
apart as possible and to thereby make the instrument most 
sensitive and accurate, different hydrometer scales have 
been devised and are used for different liquids. The 
hydrometers used for milk are called lactometers, of which 
there are two types, namely, the Quevenne 
lactometer and the New York Board of Health 
lactometer. 

Quevenne Lactometer. — The Quevenne 
lactometer is the one most generally used for 
determining the specific gravity of milk and skim 
milk. It consists of a spindle with a scale gradu- 
ated from 15 to 40, a weighted bulb, and usually 
a thermometer. The scale is divided into 25 
equal parts, ranging from 15 to 40. Each divi- 
sion is called a degree and every fifth division is 
numbered on the scale. Each division corre- 
sponds to one point of the third decimal of the 
specific gravity scale. The Quevenne degrees 
are converted into specific gravity by adding 
1000 and dividing by 1000. 

Example. — Quevenne Reading is 32. What is 
the specific gravity? 

1000 + 32 



1000 



= 1.032 specific gravity. 




Tig. 86. 

Quevenne 
Lactometer 

Courtesy 
Mojonnier 
Bros. Co. 



The Quevenne lactometer is so constructed 
that the scale records the correct degree at a 
temperature of 60° F. At a temperature above 
60° F. the reading is corrected by adding one-jj_ -rl ^oata 
tenth point to the actual reading for each degree °^^io^^ 
F. above 60. At a temperature below 60° F. de- courtesy 
duct one-tenth point for each degree F. below 60. ^roTc?©"^ 



Determination of Specific Gravity 603 

Example. — Quevenne reading at 65° F. is 33. What is the 
corrected reading? 

33 -{- .5 = 33.5, corrected Quevenne reading. 

For the use of the Quevenne lactometer provide a glass or tin 
cylinder about 10 inches high and one and one-half inches wide. 
Fill the cylinder with the milk to be tested. The temperature of the 
milk should be within the limits of 50 to 70° F. Insert the lacto- 
meter and when it has found its equilibrium, note the point on the 
scale at the surface of the milk. This represents the Quevenne 
degrees. The milk should be free from foam. Freshly drawn 
milk, and skim milk direct from the centrifugal separator will yield 
too low readings because of the incorporated air. Such milk should 
be allowed to stand at rest until the air has had a chance to escape. 

New York Board of Health Lactometer. — This type of lacto- 
meter has an arbitrary scale, it does not show the specific gravity 
direct. It was originally constructed for the use of milk inspectors 
in eastern cities, but its use is now only very limited. 

It has a graduation from zero to 120, The zero point is the 
point to which this lactometer sinks in water. The 100 mark is the 
point to which the scale sinks in milk of a specific gravity of 1.029 at 
60° F., which is assumed to be the lowest specific gravity of normal 
milk, or milk to which no extraneous water has been added. The 
distance between zero and 100 is divided into 100 equal points and 
the scale is extended beyond the 100 divisions to 120. To convert 
New York Board of Health lactometer degrees into Quevenne 
degrees, multiply the B. of H. reading by .29 and to convert Que- 
venne degrees into B. of H. degrees divide the Quevenne degrees 
by .29. 

Examples. 

Milk tests 110 B. of H. lactometer degrees at 60° F. What is 
the Quevenne reading at 60° F. 

1 10 X. 29 = 3 1.9 degrees Quevenne. 

Milk tests 34 degrees Quevenne lactometer at 60° F. What is 

the B. of H. reading at 60° F. ? 

34 

-^ = 117,2 degrees B. of H. lactometer. 



604 



Determination of Specific Gravity 



Table 101. — Degrees on Quevenne Lactometer Corresponding to 
Degrees on New York Board of Health Lactometer. 



Board of 
Health 
Degrees 


Quevenne 
Degrees 


Board of 
Health 
Degrees 


Quevenne 
Degrees 


Board of 
Health 
Degrees 


Quevenne 
Degrees 


60 


17.4 


81 


23.5 


101 


1 29.3 


61 


17.7 


82 


23.8 


102 


29.6 


62 


18.0 


83 


24.1 


103 


29.9 


63 


18.3 


84 


24.4 


104 


30.2 


64 


18.6 


85 


24.6 


105 


30.5 


65 


18.8 


86 


24.9 


106 


30.7 


66 


19.1 


87 


25.2 


107 


31.0 


67 


19.4 


88 


25.5 


108 


31.3 


68 


19.7 


89 


25.8 


109 


31.6 


69 


20.0 


90 


26.1 


110 


31.9 


70 


20.3 


91 


26.4 


111 


32.2 


71 


20.6 


92 


26.7 


112 


32.5 


72 


20.9 


93 


27.0 


113 


32.8 


73 


21.2 


94 


27.3 


114 


33.1 


74 


21.5 


95 


27.6 


115 


33.4 


75 


21.7 


96 


27.8 


116 


33.6 


76 


22.0 


97 


28.1 


117 


33.9 


77 


22.3 


98 


28.4 


118 


34.2 


78 


22.6 


99 


28.7 


119 


34.5 


79 


22.9 


100 


29.0 


120 


34.8 


80 


23.2 











For temperatures above 60° F. add one lactometer degree for 
every 3° F. above 60. 

For temperatures below 60° F. deduct one lactometer degree 
for every 3° F. below 60. 

The New York Board of Health lactometer is used in a similar 
manner as the Quevenne lactometer. 

Specific Gravity of Cream and Buttermilk. — The aerometric 
or hydrometer method of determining the specific gravity is not gen- 
erally suitable for cream and buttermilk. The viscosity of the cream 
and the usual presence of varying amounts of air in cream render 
the results unreliable. In the case of buttermilk, the chief objection 
Hes in. the fact that when this product is fluid enough to afford reason- 
ably free movement of the lactometer, the curd drops to the bottom 
rapidly and before a satisfactory reading can be taken ; and when 
the consistency of the buttermilk is such as to prevent the rapid 
separation of the curd, it is too viscous to permit the hydrometer 



De;te;rmination of Specific Gravity 605 

to find its equilibrium in a reasonable length of time. It is advisable, 
therefore, to resort to the gravimetric, or picnometer method of 
determining the specific gravity in cream and in buttermilk. 

Gravimetric Determination. — This consists of the filling of 
a perfectly dry picnometer or other graduated flask of known meas- 
ure with milk at the standard temperature (60° F., or 15.5° C.) and 
weighing the flask and contents. The weight of the flask is then 
deducted from the weight of the flask plus contents and the differ- 
ence is divided by the weight of an equal volume of water at stand- 
ard temperature. The result is the specific gravity of the milk. 

The Westphal balance method furnishes another accurate means 
of determining the specific gravity. Both the gravimetric method 
and the Westphal balance method, while accurate when operated 
by the skillful chemist, require considerable time. Experimental 
comparisons have demonstrated that for all practical purposes of 
testing milk and skim milk the Quevenne hydrometer, when accu- 
rately graduated, yields correct results, and the simplicity and rap- 
idity of its operation render its use in the determination of specific 
gravity of milk and skim milk highly advantageous and satisfactory. 

Weight of One Gallon of Butterfat, Water, Milk, Skim Milk 
and Cream in Pounds. — In the standardization of milk and cream 
it is necessary to know the aaiount of milk and cream by weight in 
pounds and not by measure in gallons. In American creameries 
the weight of milk and cream is frequently not definitely known. 
For the convenience of the operator, therefore, a table is here given 
showing the weight per gallon of these liquids at a temperature 
of approximately 60° F. 

The weight of one gallon of cream obviously varies with its 
butterfat content. As the cream increases in richness, its specific 
gravity is lowered and its weight per gallon decreases. The weight 
of one gallon of cream or any other liquid is determined by multiply- 
ing the weight of one gallon of water, which is 8.3389, by the spe- 
cific gravity of the liquid in question. For example, skim milk has 
an average specific gravity of about 1.036. One gallon of skim 
milk therefore weighs 1.036 X 8.3389 = 8.6391 lbs. 

The specific gravities of cream of different richnesses Avere cal- 
culated by the following formula adopted by and secured through 
the courtesy of Professor E. H. Farrington'- : 

1 Farrlngton, by correspondence, 1916. 



606 



DllTERMINATlON O^ SpECIFIC GrAVITY 



Table 102. — Specific Gravity at 60° F. and Weight in Pounds, of 
One Gallon, of Butterfat, Water, Milk, Skim Milk and Cream. 



Kind of Liquid 


Specific 

Gravity 

at 60° F. 


Weight of 

one Gallon 

Pounds 


Butterfat 


0.9300 
1.0000 
1.0320 
1.0360 
1.0243 
1.0186 
1.0174 
1.0163 
1.0152 
1.0140 
1.0129 
1.0118 
1.0107 
1.0096 
1.0085 
1.0073 
1.0062 
1.0051 
1.0040 
1.0O29 
1.0017 
1.0006 
0.9995 
0.9984 
0.9973 
0.9963 
0.9952 
0.9941 
0.9930 
0.9919 
0.9908 
0.9897 
0.9886 
0.9875 
0.9864 
0.9854 
0.9843 
0.9832 
0.9821 
0.9811 




Water 


8 3389 


Milk average 


8.6057 


Skim milk 


average 


8.6391 


Cream, 10 


per cent fat 


8.5417 


15 




8.4938 


16 


« 


8.4843 


17 


.< 


8.4749 


18 


« 


8.4654 


19 


« 


8.4560 


20 


« 


8.446S 


21 


(1 11 11 


8.4372 


22 


« 


8.4278 


23 


.1 


84184 


24 


11 


8 4090 


25 


11 


8.3997 


26 


11 


8.3905 


27 


11 


8.3812 


28 


11 


8.3719 


29 


11 


8.3626 


30 


« 


8.3534 


31 


.1 


8.3443 


32 


.1 


8.3352 


33 


11 


8.3260 


34 


11 


8.3168 


35 


11 


8.3076 


36 


11 11 It 


8.2985 


37 


u 


8.2894 


38 


11 


8.2804 


39 


11 


8.2714 


40 


It 11 11 


8.2624 


41 


11 


8.2534 


42 


11 11 11 


8.2444 


43 


11 


8.2354 


44 


11 


8.2265 


45 


« 


8.2176 


46 


11 11 11 


8.2087 


47 


It It It 


8.1998 


48 


1, 


8.1909 


49 


It 1( 11 


8.1821 









Determination oe Specific Gravity 
Table 102.— Continued. 



607 



Kind of Liquid 


Specific 

Gravity 

at 60° F. 


Weight of 

one Gallon 

Pounds 


50 


u .< 


0.9801 
0.9790 
0.9780 
0.9770 
0.9760 
0.9749 
0.9738 
0.9728 
0.9718 
0.9707 
0.9637 
0.9595 
0.9494 
0.9396 
0.9300 


8.1733 


51 


u u u 


8.1646 


52 


u 


8.1558 


S3 


u 


8.1470 


54 


u u u 


8.1382 


55 


u 


8.1294 


56 


tl « « 


8.1207 


57 


<( u u 


8.1121 


58 


« 


81035 


59 


« 


8.0948 


60 


u 


8.0861 


70 


.< 


8.0007 


80 


« 


7 9172 


90 


« 


7.8353 


100 


« 


7.7552 









Specific gravity of fat at 15° C, .93. 

Specific gravity of fat-free serum at 15° C. = 1.036. 

F=:per cent of fat in any cream. 

100 — F = per cent of serum. 

Volume of fat in 100 grams of cream 



.93 



c.c. 



Volume of serum m the same cream = . „,^ c.c. 

l.UJo 

Volume of 100 grams of cream must equal the sum of the above 
F , 100-F 
quantities, or -g^ H — Y036~^^' 

Since volume in cubic centimeters multiplied by the specific 

gravity equals the weight in grams 

F 100-F \ ^^ .- . ■ , ,^ 

-^-|- ■ I X specific gravity of cream =100. 

By reduction the following formula is obtained : 

c -fi ', f 96.348 

Specific gravity of cream = h^ _i_ lo^ K 

The values in the Table 102 are theoretical and apply only 
to cream free from air, in which the specific gravities of fat and 



(■ 



. De;termination of Totai, Solids 

serum conform to the above assumptions. The actual weights found 
in most cases will be somewhat less than the weights given in the 
table because of the varying amounts of air in the cream. They are 
calculated on the bases of a temperature of approximately 60° F, 
Cream at a higher temperature will weigh slightly less and cream at 
a lower temperature will weigh slightly more. 

DETERMINATION OF TOTAL SOLIDS IN MILK, SKIM 
MILK, CREAM AND BUTTERMILK 

By Means of the Babcock Formula. — For rapid and reason- 
ably accurate work the total solids of milk may be determined by 
the use of the Babcock formula, which is as follows : 

Total solids = -^ + L2 X f . 
L = Quevenne lactometer reading, 
f ^ per cent of fat. 

Example : Lactometer reading is 32 ; per cent fat is 4. 

32 
Total solids =^+ 1.2 X 4= 12.8 per cent. 

For the determination of the soHds not fat use the formula: 
"2" + -2 X f . = per cent solids not fat. 
or deduct the per cent fat from the per cent total solids. 

The Babcock formula for the determination of total solids and 
solids not fat is applicable only to milk and skim milk. For cream 
and buttermilk the gravimetric method is recommended. See also 
Table 103, showing per cent total solids in milk and skim milk when 
per cent fat and lactometer reading are known. 

Gravimetric Method. — "Heat from three to five grams of milk, 
skim milk or buttermilk at the temperature of boiUng water until it 
ceases to lose weight, using a tared flat dish of not less than 5 c.c. 
diameter. If desired, from fifteen to twenty grams of pure, dry 
sand may be previously placed in the dish. Cool in a desiccator 
and weigh rapidly to avoid absorption of hygroscopic moisture. In 
the case of cream use only two to three grams of sample." 



Determination of Total Solids 



609 



Table 103.— Per Cent Total Solids, When Per Cent Fat and 
Quevenne Lactometer Reading at 60^ F. are Known. 









Quevenne Lactometer Reading at 6C 


° F. 






Fat 


26 


27 


28 


29 


30 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 


per 
cent 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 




solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 




per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 




cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


0.0 


6.50 


6.75 


7.00 


7.25 


7.50 


7.75 


8.00 


8.25 


8.50 


8.75 


9.00 


0.1 


6.62 


6.87 


7.12 


7.37 


7.62 


7.87 


8.12 


8.37 


8.62 


8.87 


9.12 


0.2 


6.74 


6.99 


7.24 


7.49 


7.74 


7.99' 


8.24 


8.49 


8.74 


8.99 


9.24 


0.3 


6.86 


7.11 


7.36 


7.61 


7.86 


8.11 


8.36 


8.66 


8.86 


9.11 


9.36 


0.4 


6.98 


7.23 


7.48 


7.73 


7.98 


8.23 


8.48 


8.73 


8.98 


9.23 


9.48 


0.5 


7.10 


7.35 


7.60 


7.85 


8.10 


8.35 


8.60 


8.85 


9.10 


9.35 


9.60 


0.6 


7.22 


7.47 


7.72 


7.97 


8.22 


8.47 


8.72 


8.97 


9.22 


9.47 


9.72 


0.7 


7.34 


7.59 


7.84 


8.09 


8.34 


8.59 


8.84 


9.09 


9.34 


9.59 


9.84 


0.8 


7.46 


7.71 


7.96 


8.21 


8.46 


8.71 


8.96 


9.21 


9.46 


9.71 


9.96 


0.9 


7.58 


7.83 


8.08 


8.33 


8.58 


8.83 


9.08 


9.33 


9.58 


9.83 


10.08 


1.0 


7.70 


7.95 


8.20 


8.45 


8.70 


8.95 


9.20 


9.45 


9.70 


9.95 


10.20 


1.1 


7.82 


8.07 


8.32 


8.57 


8.82 


9.07 


9.32 


9.57 


9.82 


10.07 


10.32 


1.2 


7.94 


8.19 


8.44 


8.69 


8.94 


9.19 


9.44 


9.69 


9.94 


10.19 


10.44 


1.3 


8.06 


8.31 


8.56 


8.81 


9.06 


9.31 


9.56 


9.81 


10.06 


10.31 


10.56 


1.4 


8.18 


8 43 


8.68 


8.93 


9.18 


9.43 


9.68 


9.93 


10.18 


10.43 


10.68 


1.5 


8.30 


8.55 


8.80 


9.05 


9.30 


9.55 


9.80 


10.05 


10.30 


10.55 


10.80 


1.6 


8.42 


8.67 


8.92 


9.17 


9.42 


9.67 


9.92 


10.17 


10.42 


10.67 


10.92 


1.7 


8.54 


8.79 


9.04 


9.29 


9.54 


9.79 


10.04 


10.29 


10.54 


10.79 


11.04 


1.8 


8.66 


8.91 


9.16 


9.41 


9.66 


9.91 


10.16 


10.41 


10.66 


10.91 


11.17 


1.9 


8.78 


9.03 


9.28 


9.53 


9.78 


10.03 


10.28 


10.53 


10.78 


11.03 


11.29 


2.0 


8.90 


9.15 


9.40 


9.65 


9.90 


10.15 


10.40 


10.66 


10.91 


11.16 


11.41 


2.1 


9.02 


9.27 


9.52 


9.77 


10.02 


10.27 


10.52 


10.78 


11.03 


11.28 


11.53 


2.2 


9.14 


9.39 


9.64 


9.89 


10.14 


10.39 


10.64 


10.90 


11.15 


11.40 


11.65 


2.3 


9.26 


9.51 


9.76 


10.01 


10.26 


10.51 


10.76 


11.02 


11.27 


11.52 


11.77 


2.4 


9.38 


9.63 


9.88 


10.13 


10.38 


10.63 


10.88 


11.14 


11.39 


11.64 


11.89 


2.5 


9.50 


9.75 


10.00 


10.25 


10.50 


10.75 


11.00 


11.26 


11.51 


11.76 


12.01 


2.6 


9.62 


9.87 


10.12 


10.37 


10.62 


10.87 


11.12 


11.38 


11.63 


11.88 


12.13 


2.7 


9.74 


9.99 


10.24 


10.49 


10.74 


10.99 


11.24 


11.50 


11.75 


12.00 


12.25 


2.8 


9.86 


10.11 


10.36 


10.61 


10.86 


11.11 


11.37 


11.62 


11.87 


12.12 


12.37 


2.9 


9.98 


10.23 


10.48 


10.73 


10.98 


11.23 


11.49 


11.74 


11.99 


12.24 


12.49 


3.0 


10.10 


10.35 


10.60 


10.85 


11.10 


11.36 


11.61 


11.86 


12. IJ 


12.36 


12.61 


3.1 


10.22 


10.47 


10.72 


10.97 


11.23 


11.48 


11.73 


11.98 


12.23 


12.48 


12.74 


3.2 


10.34 


10.59 


10.84 


11.09 


11.35 


11.60 


11.85 


12.10 


12.35 


12.61 


12.86 


3.3 


10.46 


10.71 


10.96 


11.22 


11.47 


11.72 


11.97 


12.22 


12.48 


12.73 


12.98 


3.4 


10.58 


10.83 


11.09 


11.34 


11.59 


11.84 


12.09 


12.34 


12.60 


12.85 


13.10 


3.5 


10.70 


10.95 


11.21 


11.46 


11.71 


11.96 


12.21 


12.46 


12.72 


12.97 


13.22 


3.6 


10.82 


11.08 


11.33 


11.58 


11.83 


12.08 


12.33 


12.58 


12.84 


13.09 


13.34 


3.7 


10.94 


11.20 


11.45 


11.70 


11.95 


12.20 


12.45 


12.70 


12.96 


13.21 


13.46 


3.8 


11.06 


11.32 


11.57 


11.82 


12.07 


12.32 


12.57 


12.82 


13.08 


13.33 


13.58 


3.9 


11.18 


11.44 


11.69 


11.94 


12.19 


12.44 


12.69 


12.94 


13.20 


13.45 


13.70 


4.0 


11.30 


11.56 


11.81 


12.06 


12.31 


12.56 


12.81 


13.06 


13.32 


13.57 


13.83 


4.1 


11.42 


11.68 


11.93 


12.18 


12.43 


12.68 


12.93 


13.18 


13.44 


13.69 


13.95 


4.2 


11.54 


11.80 


12.05 


12.30 


12.55 


12.80 


13.05 


13.31 


13.56 


13.82 


14.07 


4.3 


11.66 


11.92 


12.17 


12.42 


12.67 


12.92 


13.18 


13.43 


13.68 


13.94 


14.19 


4.4 


11.78 


12.04 


12.29 


12.54 


12.79 


13.04 


13.30 


13.55 


13.80 


14.06 


14.31 


4.5 


11.90 


12.16 


12.41 


12.66 


12.91 


13.16 


13.42 


13.67 


13.92 


14.18 


14.43 


4.6 


12.03 


12.28 


12.53 


12.78 


13.03 


13.28 


13.54 


13.79 


14.04 


14.30 


14.55 


4.7 


12.15 


12.40 


12.65 


12.90 


13.15 


13.40 


13.66 


13.91 


14.16 


14.42 


14.67 


4.8 


12.27 


12.52 


12.77 


13.02 


13.27 


13.52 


13.78 


14.03 


14.28 


14.54 


14.79 


4.9 


12.39 


12.64 


12.89 


13.14 


13.39 


13.64 


13.90 


14.15 


14.40 


14.66 


14.91 



610 



Testing for Butterfat 
Table 103.— Continued. 





Quevenne Lactometer Reading at 60o F. 


Fat 


26 


27 


28 


29 


30 


31 


32 


33 


34 


35 


36 


per 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


Total 


cent 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 


solids 




per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 


per 




cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


cent 


5.0 


12.51 


12.76 


13.01 


13.26 


13.51 


13.76 


14.02 


14.27 


14.52 


14.78 


15.03 


5.1 


12.63 


12.88 


13.13 


13.38 


13.63 


13.89 


14.14 


14.39 


14.64 


14.90 


15.15 


5.2 


12.75 


13.00 


13.25 


13.50 


13.75 


14.01 


14.26 


14.51 


14.76 


15.02 


15.27 


5.3 


12.87 


13.12 


13.37 


13.62 


13.87 


14.13 


14.38 


14.63 


14.88 


15.14 


15.39 


5.4 


12.99 


13.24 


13.49 


13.74 


14.00 


14.25 


14.50 


14.76 


15.01 


15.26 


15.51 


5.5 


13.11 


13.36 


13.61 


13.86 


14.12 


14.37 


14.62 


14.88 


15.13 


15.38 


15.63 


5.6 


13.23 


13.48 


13.73 


13.99 


14.24 


14.49 


14.75 


15.00 


15.25 


15.50 


15.75 


5.7 


13.35 


13.60 


13.85 


14.11 


14.36 


14.61 


14.87 


15.12 


15.37 


15.62 


15.87 


5.8 


13.47 


13.72 


13.97 


14.23 


14.48 


14.74 


14.99 


15.24 


15.49 


15.74 


15.99 


5.9 


13.59 


13.84 


14.10 


14.35 


14.60 


14.86 


15.11 


15.36 


15.61 


15.86 


16.12 


6.0 


13.71 


13.96 


14.22 


14.47 


14.72 


14.98 


15.23 


15.48 


15.73 


15.98 


16.24 


6.1 


13.83 


14.08 


14.34 


14.59 


14.84 


15.10 


15.35 


15.60 


15.85 


16.10 


16.35 


6.2 


13.95 


14.20 


14.46 


14.71 


14.96 


15.22 


15.47 


15.72 


15.97 


16.22 


16.48 


6.3 


14.07 


14.32 


14.58 


14.83 


15.08 


15.34 


15.59 


15.84 


16.09 


16.34 


16.60 


6.4 


14.19 


14.44 


14.70 


14.96 


15.20 


15.46 


15.71 


15.96 


16.21 


16.46 


16.72 


6.5 


14.31 


14.56 


14.82 


15.08 


15.32 


15.58 


15.83 


16.08 


16.33 


16.58 


16.84 


6.6 


14.43 


14.68 


14.94 


15.20 


15.44 


15.70 


15.95 


16.20 


16.45 


16.70 


16.96 


6.7 


14.55 


14.80 


15.06 


15.32 


15.56 


15.82 


16.07 


16.32 


16.57 


16.82 


17.08 


6.8 


14.67 


14.92 


15.18 


15.44 


15.68 


15.94 


16.19 


16.44 


16.69 


16.94 


17.20 


6.9 


14.79 


15.04 


15.30 


15.56 


15.80 


16.06 


16.31 


16.56 


16.81 


17.06 


17.32 



TESTING MILK, CREAM, SKIM MILK AND BUTTER- 
MILK FOR BUTTERFAT 
Volumetric Methods 
The Babcock Test 

Principle of Babcock Test. — The principle of the Babcock test 
is based on the fact that when sulphuric acid in sufficient strength 
and amount is added to milk, cream or other dairy product, the acid 
breaks down the non-fatty constituents without materially affecting 
the fat. The action of the acid, together with the heat generated, 
destroys the emulsion of fat-in-milk serum, causing the fat to sep- 
arate out. The completeness of this separation is facilitated by sub- 
jecting the mixture of acid and milk to centrifugal force. 

In order to make possible the ready measurement of this prac- 
tically pure, separated fat in terms of per cent, the neck of the test 
bottle, in which the fat appears in the finished test, is graduated. 
Each one per cent graduation has a capacity of .2 cubic centimeter. 
The specific gravity of butterfat at about 135 degrees F., which is 
the temperature at which the test is read, averages .9, The .2 cubic 
centimeter of butterfat therefore weighs .2 X -9 = .18 grams. In 



Testing for Butterfat 611 

order to have .18 grams butterfat represent 1 per cent of the milk 

or cream tested, .18 X 100 or 18 grams of milk or cream must be 

used. 

In the case of milk, the sample, for convenience's sake, is 

measured, instead of weighed into the test bottle. The average 

specific gravity of milk is 1.032. Hence 18 grams of milk have a 

18 
volume of yTyv? °^ 17.44 cubic centimeters. But when milk is 

poured from the pipette, approximately .15 c.c. remain in the pipette 
and fail to be discharged into the test bottle. For this reason a 
poured from the pipette, approximately .15 c.c. remain in the pipette 
delivers 18 grams of milk. 

In the case of cream, the specific gravity varies very greatly 
with the richness of the cream and the amount of foam it contains, 
hence the measuring of the cream into the test bottle introduces 
considerable error. For this reason the cream is weighed, and not 
measured, into the test bottle, using 18 grams. In the course of the 
development of the Babcock test for cream, it was found desirable 
to reduce the charge of cream used for the test from 18 grams to 9 
grams, and accordingly the percentage graduation in these cream 
test bottles was modified to the effect that each 1 per cent of the 
graduation has a capacity of .1 cubic centimeter which corresponds 
to .09 grams of butterfat. In the use of these so-called 9 grnm 
cream test bottles, therefore, .09 X 100, or 9 grams of cream are 
weighed into the test bottle and the graduation again, represents per 
cent. 

SPECIFICATIONS FOR STANDARD APPARATUS AND 

CHEMICALS FOR TESTING MILK AND CREAM 

FOR BUTTERFAT BY THE BABCOCK TEST^ 

1. Apparatus and Chemicals. 
Milk Test Bottle. — 8 per cent 18 gram milk test bottle, gradu- 
ated to 0.1 per cent. Graduation — The total per cent graduation 
shall be 8. The graduated portion of the neck shall have a length 
of not less than 63.5 mm. (2^ inches). The graduation shall repre- 
sent whole per cent, five-tenths per cent and tenths per cent. The 
tenths per cent graduations shall not be less than 3 mm. in length ; 
the five-tenths per cent graduations shall be 1 mm. longer than the 

* Hunziker, Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. I, No. 1, May, 1917. 



612 Testing for Butterfat 

tenths per cent graduations, projecting 1 mm. to the left; the whole 
per cent graduation shall extend at least one-half way around the 
neck to the right and projecting 2 mm. to the left of the tenths per 
cent graduations. Each per cent graduation shall be numbered, the 
number being placed on the left of the scale. 

The maximum error in the total graduation or in any part there- 
of shall not exceed the volume of the smallest unit of the graduation. 

Neck. — The neck shall be cylindrical and of uniform internal 
diameter throughout. The cylindrical part of the neck shall extend 
at least 5 mm. below the lowest and above the highest graduation 
mark. The top of the neck shall be flared to a diameter of not less 
than 10 mm. 

Bulb. — The capacity of the bulb up to the junction of the neck 
shall be not less than 45 cc. The shape of the bulb may be either 
cylindrical or conical with the smallest diameter at the bottom. If 
cylindrical, the outside diameter shall be between 34 and 36 mm. ; 
if conical, the outside diameter of the base shall be between 31 and 
33 mm., and the maximum diameter between 35 and VI mm. 

The charge of the bottle shall be 18 grams. 

The total height of the bottle shall be between 150 and 165 mm. 
(5^ and 6^ inches). 

Cream Test Bottle 1. — 50 per cent 9 gram short-neck cream 
test bottle, graduated to 0.5 per cent. Graduation — the total per 
cent graduation shall be 50. The graduated portion of the neck shall 
have a length of not less than 63.5 mm. (2i/^ inches). The gradu- 
ation shall represent 5 per cent, 1 per cent, and 0.5 per cent. The 
5 per cent graduations shall extend at least half-way around the 
neck (to the right). The 0.5 per cent graduations shall be at least 
3 mm. in length, and the 1 per cent graduations shall have a length 
intermediate between the 5 per cent and the 0.5 per cent graduations. 
Each 5 per cent graduation shall be numbered, the number being 
placed on the left of the scale. 

The maximum error in the total graduation or in any part 
thereof shall not exceed the volume of the smallest unit of the 
graduation. 

Neck. — The neck shall be cylindrical and of uniform internal 
diameter throughout. The cylindrical part of the neck shall extend 



Testing for Butterfat 613 

at least 5 mm. below the lowest and above the highest graduation 
mark. The top of the neck shall be flared to a diameter of not less 
than 10 mm. 

Bulb. — The capacity of the I)ull) up to the junction of the neck 
shall not be less than 45 cc. The shape of the bulb may be either 
cylindrical or conical with the smallest diameter at the bottom. If 
cylindrical, the outside diameter shall be between 34 and 36 mm. ; if 
conical, the outside diameter of the base shall be between 31 and 33 
mm. and the maximum diameter between 35 and VJ mm. 

The charge of the bottle shall be 9 grams. All bottles shall 
bear on top of the *neck above the graduations, in plainly legible 
characters, a mark defining the weight of the charge to be used (9 
grams.) . 

The total height of the bottle shall be between 150 and 165 mm. 
(5j^ and 6^ inches), same as standard milk test bottles. 

Cream Test Bottle 2. — 50 per cent 9 gram long-neck-cream test 
bottle, graduated to 0.5 per cent. The same specifications in every 
detail as specified for the 50 per cent 9 gram short-neck bottle shall 
apply for the long-neck bottle with the exception, however, that the 
total height of this bottle shall be between 210 and 235 mm. (8^ 
and 9 inches), that the total length of the graduation shall be not 
less than 120 mm., and that the maximum error in the total gradua- 
tion or in any part thereof shall not exceed 50 per cent of the volume 
of the smallest unit of the graduation. 

Cream Test Bottle 3. — 50 per cent 18 gram long-neck cream 
test bottle, graduated to 0.5 per cent. The same specifications in 
every detail as specified for the 50 per cent 9 gram long-neck bottle 
shall also apply for the 18 gram long-neck bottle, except that the 
charge of the bottle shall be 18 grams. All bottles shall bear on top 
of the neck above the graduation, in plainly legible characters, a 
mark defining the weight of the charge to be used (18 grams). 

Pipette, capacity 17.6 cc. Total length of pipette not more than 
330 mm. (13^ inches). Outside diameter of suction tube 6 to 8 
mm. Length of suction tube, 130 mm. Outside diameter of deliv- 
ery tube, 4.5 to 5.5 mm. Length of delivery tube, 100 to 120 mm. 
Distance of graduation mark above bulb, 15 to 45 mm. Nozzle 
straight. To deliver its contents when filled to the mark with water 
at 20° C, in five to eight seconds. The maximum error shall not 
exceed 0.05 cc. 

Acid measure, capacity 17.5 cc. 



614 Testing for Butterfat 

Cream Testing Scales.— Sensibility reciprocal of 30 mgrn., i. e.» 
the addition of 30 mgm. to the scales, when loaded to capacity, shall 
cause a deflection of the pointer of at least one division on the gradu- 
ation. 

Weights. — 9 gram weights for 9 gram cream test bottles and 
18 gram weights for 18 gram cream test bottles, preferably 
stamped correct by the United States or State Bureau of Stand- 
ards. 

Tester. — Standard Babcock test centrifuge and speed in- 
dicator. 

Dividers for measuring fat column. 

Water bath for cream samples, with proper arrangement for 
regulating and recording temperature of samples. 

Water bath for test bottles, of sufficient size and with neces- 
sary equipment to insure proper control of temperature. The fol- 
lowing dimensions for a twenty-four bottle water bath are recom- 
mended: Metal box, 14 inches long, 11 inches wide, and 8^ inches 
deep and equipped with a bottle basket 9^^ inches long and 6j^ inches 
wide, capacity twenty-four bottles, a steam and water inlet, a drain, 
a thermometer holder with thermometer. 

Chemicals. — Commercial sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1.82 
to 1.83; glymol, or white mineral oil, high grade. 

OPERATION OF THE BABCOCK TEST 
Milk Test 

Milk Samples. — The sampling of milk is fully discussed in 
Chapter VI on "Receiving Milk and Cream." 

Preparation of Milk Sample for the Test. — Before testing, the 
samples should be brought to the proper temperature ; this may 
range from 55 degrees to 70 degrees F. If the samples have been 
exposed to summer heat or to temperatures near the freezing point, 
the sample bottles are best set into a tank, sink, or tub and allowed 
to stand in water at about 60 degrees F. until the temperature of the 
milk is neither below 55 degrees F. nor above 70 degrees F. 

If to be transported by mail, express, or otherwise, the sample 
bottle should be completely full and tightly stoppered and the sam- 
ples should be preserved as previously directed, see Chapter VI. 

The contents of each bottle must be thoroughly mixed before 



Testing for Butterfat 



615 



pipetting into the test bottle. If the composite sample has received 
the proper care, as directed in Chapter VI, the gentle shaking of the 
sample bottle and the pouring of the contents from one bottle to 
another several times should be sufficient. 







Pig-. 88 



rig-. 89 



Pig-. 90 



Pig-. 91 



Standard Babcock Milk and Cream Test Bottles 

Courtesy Louis F. Nafls 



Samples containing lumps of cream or granules of butter cannot 
be tested properly without extra preparation. They should be 
heated to at least 110 degrees F., or until all lumps of butterfat 
have melted and disappeared ; they should then be shaken vigorously 
and pipetted into the test bottle at once. Even with this precaution 
it is difficult to transfer to the test bottle a representative portion 



616 Testing for Butterfat 

from such a sample. Avoid incorporation of air bubbles while 
mixing the sample. 

Curdy and churned samples are not dependable. Sour and curdy 
samples should be treated as follows : add one-half teaspoonful of 
soda lye or potash lye, shake, and let stand until all lumps of curd 
have disappeared. The sample is then ready for the test. When 
testing samples to which soda lye or other alkali has been added, the 
acid should be added slowly and carefully to avoid accidents and to 
prevent the loss of a portion of the contents of the bottle by exces- 
sive effervescence. 

Measuring the Milk Into the Test Bottle. — ^Use standard milk 
test bottles and a standard 17.6 cubic centimeter pipette. Measure 
17.6 cubic centimeters (representing 18 grams) of the properly 
prepared sample into the test bottle. In order to do this rapidly, 
and without spilling, the delivery tube of the standard pipette 
has been constructed of such diameter, that this tube readily 
drops into the neck of the standard 8 per cent milk test 
bottle. Hence drop the delivery tube of the pipette into the 
neck of the test bottle until the bulb of the pipette rests on the 
neck of the bottle, then release the milk. Blow the last drop of 
milk out of the pipette before removing it from the bottle. Mark 
each bottle with a number corresponding with the number of the 
respective patron on the sample bottle. The marking is best done 
with an ordinary lead pencil on the etched shoulder of the test bot- 
tle. Or equip the test bottles with metal tags which bear consecu- 
tive numbers. Slip one tag over the neck of each test bottle. In 
this case the test bottle number may and usually does differ from 
the patron's number shown on the sample bottle. It is necessary 
therefore, to record the test bottle number on the test report blank 
opposite the respective patron's name or number at the time of fill- 
ing each test bottle. 

Adding the Acid. — Use commercial sulphuric acid, specific 
gravity 1.82 to 1.83. The temperature of the acid should be the 
same as that of the milk, 55 degrees F. to 70 degrees F. In order 
to insure the proper temperature of the acid it is advisable to set 
the acid bottle into the tank containing the milk sample bottles. 

Add 17.5 cc. of acid to the milk in the test bottle and mix by 
giving the bottle a rotary motion until the lumps of curd are com- 
pletely dissolved and the mixture presents a brown-black color. It 



TESTING FOR BUTTERFAT 617 

is advisable to add the acid in about three installments, shaking the 
bottle after each addition. Attention to this precaution helps to 
secure clear tests. 

Whirling and Adding Water. — Set the test bottles into the 
Babcock centrifuge. If the test bottles containing the mixture 
of milk and acid are held over and allowed to become cool, they » 
should be heated by setting in hot water before whirling. 

Steam turbine and electric driven testers with not less than 
twenty-four pockets are best adapted for factory use. They are 
constructed of two general sizes, — those having a twelve-inch diame- 
ter wheel and those having an eighteen-inch diameter wheel. 

Table 104. — Correct Speed of Testers of Different Diameters^ 

Measuring from Pocket Bottom to Opposite Pocket Bottom 

Diameter of Wheel Revolutions of Wheel 

Inches . per Minute 

10 1,074 

12 980 

14 909 

16 848 

18 • 800 

20 759 

22 - 724 

24 693 

Fill the bottles to the bottom of the neck with hot, soft water ; 
Avhirl again for two minutes and fill the bottles with hot, soft water 
to about the 7 per cent mark ; whirl for one minute. The tempera- 
ture of the water added should be not lower than 140 degrees F. and 
preferably near that of boiling water (212 degrees F). ' 

Reading the Test. — Place the test bottles in a water bath and 
read after a temperature of 130° F. to 140° F. has been maintained 
for not less than three minutes. Measure the fat column with a 
pair of dividers, including the meniscus or curve, both at the bottom 
and at the top of the fat column. Each subdivision represents ,1 
per cent ; each main division represents 1 per cent. Record the per- 
centage of fat thus found on the test sheet. 

Abnormal Appearance of the Fat Column. — When the test is 
made properly and in accordance with above directions, the fat 



1 Parrington & Woll, Testing Milk and Its Products. 



618 Testing for Butterfat 

column is clear, translucent, has a golden yellow or amber color 
and the top and bottom curves are sharply defined. 

The presence of whitish curd in or immediately below the fat 
column is the result of excessively cold milk and acid, or the use of 
too little or too weak acid. The presence of charred matter in the 
fat column is the result of the use of too much or too strong acid, or 
too high a temperature of milk or acid, or both, at the time of adding 
the acid. 

The appearance of foam on the surface of the fat column is 
caused by the use of hard water. The carbonates, when acted on 
by the sulphuric acid, break down, liberating carbon dioxide gas 
which, rising through the fat column, gathers on its surface in the 
form of air bubbles. Where soft water, distilled water, or rain 
water is not available, the water may be softened by boiling it or by 
the addition to it of a few drops of sulphuric acid before use. 

All tests which are milky, or foggy, showing the presence of 
curd or charred matter in or below the fat column, or of which the 
reading is indistinct or uncertain, should be rejected. Duplicate tests 
are essential in all work where special accuracy of results is required, 
such as in official testing and experimental investigations. 

Cream Test 

Cream samples. — The taking of cream samples, at the factory, 
at the cream station and on the cream route is fully discussed in 
Chapter VI on "Receiving Milk and Cream." 

Cream samples should be tested as soon as possible and not 
later than three days after they are taken. Composite samples rep- 
resenting portions of consecutive deliveries of the same patron 
are prone to be unreliable. Samples should at all times be kept in 
non-absorptive containers, sealed air-tight and held in the cold.^ . 

Immediately before testing, mix the sample until it pours readily 
and a uniform emulsion is secured. If in good condition shake, 
pour, stir or blow until properly mixed. If very thick, warm to 
85 degrees F. and then mix. In case of lumps of butter, heat the 
sample to from 100 degrees F. to 120 degrees F. by setting in water 
bath, mix thoroughly and weigh out at once. For commercial work 
on a large scale it is advisable to temper all samples to 100 degrees 
to 120 degrees F. in a water bath previous to mixing. Great care 
should be exercised to avoid overheating the sample, causing the 



Testing for Butterfat 



619 




Pig-. 92 
Standard 
Milk Pipette 



Pig". 95 

Cozabined 

Acid Bottle 



Pig-. 96 
Acid Cylinder 



1 Courtesy Louis F. Nafis. 

- Courtesy Mojonnier Bros. Co. 



620 Testing for Butterfat 

cream to "oil off." This precaution is especially necessary with thin 
cream. 

Cream Test Bottles.— Use standard 50 per cent 9-gram short- 
neck, or standard 50 per cent 9-gram long-neck, or standard 50 per 
cent 18-gram long-neck cream test bottles. The divisions on each of 
the three standard cream test bottles represent .5 per cent, 1 per cent 
and 5 per cent. The 5 per cent divisions bear a figure to the left of 
the graduation. 

Cream Test Balances. — Only high-class balances which are in 
satisfactory operating condition should be used. The reliability of 
the cream test balance depends in the first place on its sensitiveness 
and capacity. Experiments conducted with different types of cream 
testing scales by 'Hunziker, Spitzer and Ogle^ showed the following 
results and conclusions: 

1. Results of tests of 4623 cream samples made in commercial 
creameries show that where the one-bottle balances were used, 96.43 
per cent of the tests checked with the retests within .5 per cent, while 
the best performance of the twelve-bottle balance yielded only 80.43 
per cent of tests that checked with the retests. 

2. Balances with a sensibility reciprocal of .01 to .03 grams 
produced tests, 98.2 per cent of which checked with the retests, and 
the average variation between duplicate tests was .119 per cent. 

3. Balances with a sensibility reciprocal of .1 gram yielded only 
36.1 per cent of tests which checked with the retests, and the average 
variation between duplicate tests was .993 per cent. 

4. The condition, care and manipulation of the cream test bal- 
ance greatly influence its sensitiveness, reliability and length of use- 
fulness. 

5. The general adoption of standard cream test balances with 
a sensibility reciprocal of thirty milligrams would materially augment 
the reliability of cream tests. 

6. Preference should be given to small capacity balances. 

7. Balances, with a graduated beam which carries a traveling 
poise are less reliable than those with a beam of equal arms, balanc- 
ing in the center and requiring the use of separate weights. 

8. Balances of simple principle and construction are generally 
superior under average commercial conditions, retain their sensi- 
bility reciprocal longer and are more durable than balances of more 
complex principle and construction. 

1 Hunziker, Spitzer and Ogle, Cream Testing Scales, Purdue Bulletin 189,- 
1916. 



Testing for Butterfat 621 

SPECIFICATIONS AND TOLERANCES FOR STANDARD 
CREAM TEST BALANCES 

United States Bureau of Standards^ 

Definition. — A cream-test or butterfat-test scale is a scale 
especially designed and adapted for determining the fat content 
of cream or butter. 

Specifications. — 1. All scales shall be provided with a gradu- 
ated scale or arc divided into at least lo equal spaces, over which the 
indicator shall play. 

2. The clear interval between the graduations on the graduated 
scale or arc shall not be less than o.o^ inch. 

3. The indicator shall be of such length as to reach to the gradu- 
ated divisions and shall terminate in a fine point to enable the read- 
ings to be made with precision. 

4. All scales whose weight indications are changed by an 
amount greater than one-half the tolerance allozued, zvhen set in any 
positioit on a surface making an angle of 5 per cent or approximately 
J degrees with the horizontal, shall be equipped with leveling screws 
and with a device which will indicate zvhen the scale is level. The 
scale shall be rebalanced at zero each time its position is altered dur- 
ing this test. 

5. All scales shall be so constructed and adjusted that when 
the pans are released or disturbed, the pointer will return to its orig- 
inal position of equilibrium. 

Sensibility Reciprocal. — The maximum sensibility reciprocal 
allowable for these scales shall not exceed one-half grain, or approxi- 
mately 30 milligrams, when the maximum load is placed upon the 
scale. 

(The term "sensibility reciprocal" means the weight required to 
move the position of equilibrium of the beam, pan, pointer, or other 
indicating device of the scale a definite amount. In scales provided 
with a pointer and a graduated scale or arc, such as the above, the 
sensibility reciprocal is the weight required to cause a change in the 
position of rest of the pointer equal to one division on the graduated 
scale or arc.) 

Tolerances. — The tolerance to be allowed in excess or de- 
ficiency on all cream-test and butterfat-test scales shall not be 



1 United states Bureau of Standards, Tolerances and Specifications for 
Weights and Measures, Proceedings of Tenth Annual Conference on the 
Weights and Measures of the United States, May 25-28, 1915. 



622 Testing for Butterfat 

greater than one-half grain or approximately 30 milligrams, when 
the scale is loaded to capacity." 

Manipulation of Balance. — ^1. Level the balance each time be- 
fore using. 

2. Adjust or balance the instrument immediately before weigh- 
ing and make sure that its beam swings freely and does not "stick." 

3. Protect the balance from air currents. If resting on an open 
bench have the nearest doors and windows closed. The setting of 
the balance in a box large enough for convenient operation and with 
the near side open is recommended. 

4. Use accurate weights only and be sure that they are clean. 

5. Don't release the balance with a jerk so that the pans strike 
the rest ; release them easily and slowly and handle them gently when 
they are moved. Careless and rough handling may damage spring 
bands and dull knife edges. 

6. Don't try to use the balance when out of repair. 

7. Use painstaking care and reasonable judgment in all opera- 
tions. 

SPECIFICATIONS FOR STANDARD NINE AND 
EIGHTEEN GRAM WEIGHTS 

1. Weights shall be made of brass or aluminum. 

2. Weights shall have smooth surfaces and no sharp points or 
corners. 

3. Weights shall not be covered with a soft or thick coat of 
paint or varnish. 

4. All weights shall be clearly marked with their nominal value 
i. e. 9 for nine gram weights and 18 for eighteen gram weights. 

5. The tolerance shall be forty milligrams for nine gram 
weights and fifty milligrams for eighteen gram weights. 

Weighing the Cream Into the Test Bottle. — The cream must 
be weighed into the test bottle, not measured. This is necessary in 
order to secure the correct amount by weight. Cream varies in 
weight with its richness and its mechanical condition, and no one 
measure will hold the correct amount of cream of varying richness. 
The correct amount of cream by weight is 9 grams or 18 grams, 
respectively. 

Set the cream test bottles on the scales and balance the scales 
accurately. The cream is most readily transferred into the test 



Testing for Buttkrfat 



623 



bottles from the properly mixed sample by means of a 9 or 18 cc. 
pipette which has a short, wide-bore delivery tube. In this manner 
spilling is readily avoided and the work is most rapid. If any 
cream is spilled over the outside of the bottles or on the balance, it 
should be wiped off immediately and before the weighing is com- 
pleted. 

Making the Test. — Three methods of performing the test have 
been adopted as standard methods ; each of which, when properly 
executed, insures accurate results, but methods II and III are pre- 




Fig". 97. Jalco Electric Centrifuge 

Courtesy Jalco Motor Co. 



Fig". 98. Facile Steam Turbine 

Tester 

Courtesy D. H. BurreU & Co. 



ferred to method I, as they leave less to the judgment of the oper- 
ator and therefore are more nearly "fool-proof :" 

Method I. Add standard commercial sulphuric acid until the 
mixture of acid and cream, immediately after shaking, resembles 
in color, coffee with cream in it.. Usually about 8 to 12 cc. of 
acid is required in the case of the 9-gram bottle or 14 to 17 cc. 
of acid in the case of the 18-gram bottle, the amount needed depend- 
ing on the temperature of acid and cream and on the richness of 
the cream. 

Whirl in Standard Babcock centrifuge at proper speed, five, 
two and one minutes, respectively, filling the bottles with hot, soft 
water, temperature 140° F. or above, to the bottom of the neck after 
the first whirling and to near the top graduation after the second 
whirling. 



624 



Testing for Butterfat 



Method II. Add 9 cc. of water after the cream has been 
weighed into the test bottle and before the acid is added, then add 
17.5 cc. acid and proceed as in previous method. This method is 
apphcable with the 9-gram bottle only. 

Method III. Add 8 to 12 cc. of acid in the case of the 9-gram 
bottle or 14 to 17 cc. of acid in the case of the 18-gram bottle, or add 
acid until the mixture of cream and acid, after shaking, has a choco- 
late brown color. After the cream and acid have been thoroughly 
mixed and all lumps have completely disappeared, add a few cubic 
centimeters (not less than 5 cc.) of hot, soft water, whirl five min- 
utes, add hot, soft water to near top of scale and whirl one minute. 

The proper speed of the centrifuge is 800 revolutions per min- 




Tig. 99. Babcock Tester 

Courtesy Davis-Watkins Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 



ute for an 18-inch diameter wheel and 1000 revolutions per minute 
for a 12-inch diameter wheel. 

Reading the Cream Test. — Place the test bottles into the water 
bath and read after a temperature of 130 to 140 degrees F. has been 
maintained for not less than three minutes. Just before reading the 
test and when taking the bottles from the water bath, add a few 
drops of glymol. The glymol removes the meniscus or curve on 
top of the fat column, leaving a straight line which is sharply defined 
and readily seen. 

Measure the fat column, preferably using dividers, and record 
the percentage of fat on the test sheet, opposite the test bottle num- 
ber of the respective patron. 



Testing for Butterfat 



625 



Purpose and Use of Glymol. — Glymol is a high quality of 
white mineral oil, similar to typewriter oil. It is slightly lighter 
than butterfat and therefore floats on top of the fat column. 

The object of using glymol is to remove the meniscus or curve 
present at the top of the fat column. This curve, owing to refrac- 
tion of the light, is indistinct and renders correct reading difficult. 
When a few drops of glymol are placed on top of the fat column, 
the meniscus disappears and a straight, sharply defined line is formed 




Fig*. 100. Beading' Cream Test 



between the top of the fat and the bottom of the glymol. 
condition the test can be read easily and accurately. 



In this 



For the best results the glymol should be added immediately 
before reading. The glymol may be conveniently transferred to 
the test bottle from a pipette, burette, or by squirting from a small 
oil can. 



626 Testing for Butterfat 

Experienced testers are able to secure correct readings without 
glymol by reading to the bottom of the upper meniscus, but the use 
of glymol is urged for maximum accuracy. 

Glymol should be used in the reading of the cream test only; 
the milk test should be read without glymol, otherwise the results 
of the milk tests would be too low. Experimental results by Hun- 
ziker^ have indicated that in the milk test the meniscus compensates 
for the loss of residual fat. It therefore must be included in the 
reading. In the cream test the proportion of residual fat lost is 
very small and is amply compensated for by the usual impurities in 
the fat column. 

Coloring Glymol. — Some operators prefer the use of colored 
glymol, though equally satisfactory results are obtained with the un- 
colored glymol. Glymol is best colored with an aniline dye. A dye 
that is sold under the trade name "oil red" proves highly satisfactory 
for this purpose. Add 1 gram of oil red to 4 gallons glymol. 

Abnormal Appearance of Fat Column. — When the cream test 
has been properly performed the fat column in the neck of the bottle 
is clear, translucent and free from milky, curdy and charred matter 
in or below the fat. Any tests in which the fat column is not free 
from visible impurities, or in which the fat column rests on a layer 
of non-fatty material, or of which the reading is otherwise indistinct 
or uncertain, should be rejected. See also abnormal appearance of 
fat column of milk tests. 

Testing Skim Milk, Buttermilk and Whey for Butterfat 

Test Bottles. — For the Babcock test of skim milk, buttermilk 
and whey use bottles with double necks, which are especially con- 
structed for this purpose. The graduation of these bottles varies 
somewhat with the make of bottle. In some bottles the total gradua- 
tion is .25 per cent and the subdivisions represent ,01 per cent. In 
others the total graduation is .5 per cent and the subdivisions repre- 
sent .05 per cent. 

Making the Test. — Measure the properly mixed skim milk into 
the test bottles with the 17.6 cc. pipette used for milk testing. Add 
20 cc. of sulphuric acid. For best results add the acid in several 
installments and shake until all the lumps of curd have completely 
disappeared. Whirl in tester for 10 minutes. 



^ Hunziker, Indiana Agricultural Experiment Station Annual Report, 1914. 



Testing for Butterfat 627 

Special attention should be given when the bottles are placed 
into the tester. Test bottles in which the lower end of the funnel- 
neck extends perpendicularly along the side of the bulb to the bot- 
tom of the bottle, should be so placed that the funnel-neck faces the 
center of the tester, otherwise the fat rises into the funnel-neck. 
Test bottles in which the lower end of the funnel-neck extends 
diagonally to the bottom of the bottle should be so placed that the 
graduated neck faces the center of the tester. This will prevent 
excessive breakage of this type of bottles. The tester should run 
perfectly smooth in order to prevent excessive breakage, as these 
bottles are of very delicate construction. 

Add distilled water or rain water at a temperature of 140° F. 
or over to the bottom of the neck of the bottle ; whirl 5 minutes. 
Add hot water to near top of neck, whirl 10 minutes and read. 

In the case of buttermilk and whey use the same method as 
described for skim milk. In the case of buttermilk, especially that 
derived from pasteurized sour cream, the buttermilk should be 
stirred very thoroughly before sampling. This is necessary, because 
upon standing the curd precipitates out and settles to the bottom 
very rapidly, and it is the curd that holds the bulk of the fat con- 
tained in the buttermilk. 

The amount of fat contained in skim milk, buttermilk and whey, 
particularly in the first two liquids, is, or should be, so minute, the 
fat globules are so small and the construction of the test bottle is 
so crude, that it is difficult to secure very accurate tests by this 
method, the proportion of fat actually shown in the test often repre- 
senting only a very small part of the total fat content of the orig- 
inal sample. 

The results of testing skim milk and buttermilk with the standard 
Babcock test should not be relied upon absolutely for accuracy, but 
if the tests are carefully made, the results may serve as a convenient 
guide, showing the operator whether these products contain com- 
paratively little or much fat. Investigations in which both Babcock 
tests and chemical fat estimations of skim milk and buttermilk were 
made, indicate that the fat content of these products seldom drops 
below .1 per cent as determined by the chemical estimation. It is 
reasonable to assume, therefore, that when the Babcock test shows 
only .05 per cent fat or less, the results are considerably lower than 
they should be. 



628 



Testing for Butterfat 



Bouska^ recommends that Ice. of amyl alcohol be added to the 
test before centrifuging in order to facilitate the separation of the 
fat, improve the clearness of the fat column and augment the accur- 
acy of the test. He found, however, that blank tests made by this 
method also show a layer in the neck of the test bottle, resembling 
butterfat, and recommends the advisability of additional experimen- 
tal work with the use of amyl alcohol. 



[ i 




Tig. 101 

Skim Milk Test 

Bottle - 



Fig-. 102. Wizard Steam Tester ' 



THE GERBER TEST 



Pig-. 103 

Calipers for 

Beading" ~ 



This test* was invented by Dr. N. Gerber, Zurich, Switzerland. 
It became available for commercial use in Europe shortly after the 
introduction of the Babcock test in this country and has found wide 
application, especially in European countries. 

Apparatus and Chemicals. — '1. Acido-butyrometer. This is a 
glass bulb, extended at its top into a closed, graduated neck. The 
graduations represent per cent and tenths per cent. The bottom of 



^ Bouska, Report before American Association of Dairy Science, 1918. 

2 Courtesy Louis F. Nafls. 

3 Courtesy Creamery Package Mfg. Co. 

♦Gerber, Die praktische Milchpriifung, Ttli edition, 1900. 



Testing for Butterfat 629 

the bulb terminates into a threaded neck into which fits a rubber 
stopper. 

2. Butyrometer stand and water bath. 

3. 11 cc. pipette for milk. 

4. 3 cc. pipette for cream. 

5. 10 cc. pipette graduated to .1 cc. 

6. 8.2 cc. pipette for diluting cream. 

7. 10 cc. bulb pipette for acid, or automatic acid measuring 
apparatus. 

8. 1 cc. pipette for amyl alcohol. 

9. Centrifuge. 

Commercial sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1.82 to 1.825 at 
15° C. (59° F.). 

Pure amyl alcohol, specific gravity .8165 to .818 at 15° C. (59° F.) 
boiling point 124-130° C, should give a clear solution with an equal 
volume of strong hydrochloric acid. 

Operation of Test 

Milk, Skim Milk, Buttermilk, Whey. — Place the butyrometers 
in rack or stand. Add 10 cc. sulphuric acid to each, measure 11 cc. 
of properly mixed sample of milk and then 1 cc. of amyl alcohol 
into the butyrometers. 

Insert corks, place thumb over cork and shake until all the curd 
is dissolved. Completely invert the stand several times to insure 
thorough mixing. . 

Place the butyrometers into the centrifuge with corks toward the 
periphery, and whirl two to three minutes, or until the fat column 
is perfectly clear. 

Place butyrometers into water bath at 60 to 70° C. (140-158° F.) 
and read. So adjust the rubber stopper in the bottom of the bulb 
while reading, that the bottom of the fat column coincides with the 
zero graduation. Read to the bottom of the meniscus. Compara- 
tive tests have demonstrated that this test yields very accurate 
results. 

Skim milk and buttermilk should be whirled longer and at maxi- 
mum attainable speed and .05 per cent must be added to the reading.* 

Cream. — Wyssmann and Peter- recommend dilution of the 
cream at the rate of one part of cream to four parts of water, mak- 



^ Richmond, Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 

* Wyssman und Peter, Milchwlrtschaft, 1907. 



630 Te;sting Butter 

ing a dilution of 1 in 5, and requiring the multiplication of the 
reading by five. This appears to be the most practicable method 
of cream testing with the Gerber test. 

Richmond' recommends the use of a 3 cc. pipette for measuring 
the cream and the subsequent addition of 8.2 cc. water, and the 
reading to be interpreted into per cent by the use of a calculated 
table ; claiming accurate results for cream testing not over 32 per 
cent fat. For richer cream he advises a dilution of equal parts, by 
weight, of cream and water and then proceeding as with cream test- 
ing not over 32 per cent fat. 

Either of the above two methods for cream testing is obviously 
rather unsuited for use in creameries that purchase their butterfat 
in the form of cream. The first is undeniably inaccurate and the 
second, while somewhat more accurate, is too complicated for prac- 
tical purposes under American conditions. 

BUTTER 

Determination of Per Cent Moisture 

Preparation of Sample. — Official.- — "If large quantities of but- 
ter are to be sampled, use a butter trier or sampler. Melt com- 
pletely the portions thus drawn, 100-500 grams, in a closed vessel at 
as low a temperature as possible. When softened, cool and, at the 
same time, shake the mass violently until it is homogeneous and 
solidified sufficiently to prevent the separation of the water and fat. 
Then pour a portion into the vessel from which it is to be weighed. 
The sample should completely or nearly fill the vessel and should 
be kept in a cool place until analyzed. 

Moisture. — Offi.cial. — "Weigh 1.5 to 2.5 grams of the sample 
into a flat-bottomed dish, having a surface of at least 20 sq. cm., dry 
at the temperature of boiling water and weigh at hourly intervals 
until the weight becomes constant. The use of clean, dry sand or 
asbestos is admissible." 

For factory purposes the official method is obviously not well 
adapted, largely because of its time-consuming element. It is nec- 
essary to make moisture tests while the butter is still in the churn 
and here quick work, consistent with reasonable accuracy, is indis- 
pensable. Creameries whose motto is "Safety First" will also make 



1 Richmond, Dairy Chemistry, 1914. 

2 Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, Vol. II, No. 
3, Nov. 15, 1916. 



Testing Butter 



631 



moisture tests of the butter in the cooler, so as to be doubly sure that 
no butter leaves the factory that does not comply with the Federal 
ruling. 

Factory Moisture Tests 

Preparation of Sample. — It is an open and disputable question 
as to whether the butter sample should be especially prepared, or 
whether a sample large enough only for immediate weighing should 
be used. Both methods, if properly executed, are capable of yield- 
ing practically equally reliable results. 



Fig'. 104. Aluminum Evaporating' Dish 



If the sample is especially prepared, a larger sample and more 
portions of butter from different parts of the churning or package 
can be taken. This obviously has the advantage, theoretically at 
least, of securing a more representative sample, but this advan- 
tage is often offset by irregularities in the preparation of the 
sample and by the extra time consumed. However, when it is neces- 
sary to hold the sample for a considerable length of time before 
testing, when it is to be transported, either by mail or otherwise, when 
it is to be tested by more than one party, or when a composite sample 
is taken from more than one churning or package, special prepara- 
tion of the sample is indispensable. 

In all these cases churn samples should be taken with a dry, 
warm spoon or spatula from both ends and the center of the churn. 
Tub or box samples should be taken by boring the butter diagonally 
with a dry trier and removing from different parts of the trier seg- 
ments for the sample, with a knife or steel spatula. In the case of 
prints a thin cross section through the center of the entire print may 
be cut out for the sample. 



632 TESTING Butter 

The sample jar should be tightly sealed. In order to prepare the 
sample the butter is allowed to soften by warming until it has a 
creamy consistency, in which condition it must be thoroughly shaken. 
If used immediately, portions of this thickly flowing butter emulsion 
may be weighed out without rehardening. If not used immediately 
the sample should be cooled and constantly vigorously shaken while 
cooling. 

Brown^ recommends the preparation of the butter sample with- 
out warming by inserting in the sample jar a rapidly revolving spiral 
wire, in a similar manner as milk shakes at the soda fountain are 
emulsified. 

Taking Samples without Subsequent Preparation. — Where 
the sample is to be immediately tested after it is taken, quite satis- 
factory results may be obtained without special preparation. In this 
case the following method of sampling is recommended : 

From Churn: Bring butter upon workers, wipe water oft* door 
frame, cut top off butter with ladle, so as to have surface smooth and 
solid, with knife cut three small cones of butter and place in alumi- 
num dish. Take second sample from the other end of the churn, 
and place in another aluminum dish. The sample in each aluminum 
dish should be large enough to weigh approximately ten (10) grams. 

From Cooler: Run trier diagonally through Friday box or 
through tub and take portions from the plug at each end and in the 
center. Do not shake the trier, or the butter, at any stage of the 
process of sampling, to remove loose moisture. This moisture be- 
longs to the butter. Bore at least two packages of cooler butter 
from each churning and make a test of each. The sample in each 
evaporating dish should be large enough to weigh approximately 10 
grams. 

From Prints: Cut the print into two halves, and cut a slab 
about one-fourth inch thick from the fresh surface. Quarter this 
slab and transfer one of the quarters to the aluminum dish. 

Making the Moisture Test. 
Equipment: One steel spatula. 
One butter trier. 
Aluminum cups of medium size. 
One balance, sensibility reciprocal .01 gram. 



1 Brown, Chemist Beatrice Creamery Co., Lincoln, Neb. 



Testing Butter 633 

One heating arrangement, consisting of an al- 
cohol or gas burner with tripod and small 
piece of fine copper wire gauze, or prefer- 
ably an electric plate, 

One thermometer registering to 300° F, 

Weighing: Have balance properly balanced. See that it 
swings freely. Keep pans perfectly clean. Check balance several 
times during the day. Check up weights of aluminum cups weekly 
by re-weighing, in order to detect loss in weight. Before taring 
aluminum cups, wash them, dry them, and heat them. Do not use 
dry scouring powders for aluminum cups. If washing powder is 
used dissolve it first. Weigh to the third decimal point. Handle 
weights with forceps only and keep them clean. If they show signs 
of wear, have them replaced by new ones. 

In the case of the unprepared sample, simply weigh the butter 
which was transferred direct from churn or package to the tared 
aluminum dish and record the weight thus obtained. In the case of 
the prepared sample transfer a small portion, about 10 grams, of 
the butter in the sample jar to the tared dish, weigh and record 
weights. The butter is now ready for the evaporation of the mois- 
ture. 

Heating: Slowl}- heat over flame or on liot plate, stirring con- 
stantly with thermometer. When temperature has risen to 
260° F. remove flame. The temperature will usually continue to 
rise to about 280° F. When it has dropped back to about 240° F. 
heat again as before. Evaporation of moisture then is complete. 
Weigh the aluminum cup again and calculate per cent moisture. For 
heating, use moderate heat. Too large a flame produces so intense 
a heat that the contents are liable to sputter over and also may 
become burnt. When using an alcohol flame, have a wire gauze or 
light steel plate between flame and cup. When using a gas flame, 
have a thin asbestos board between flame and cup. This helps to 
give a more uniform heat. 

When the heating has been done properly, the curd in the bottom 
of the cup should be slightly brown. A whitish yellow curd indi- 
cates insufificient heating, which is conducive of too low tests. A 
dark brown curd suggests overheating, which usually causes too high 
tests. 



634 Testing Butter 

When done using the thermometer, scrape it off on one side of 
cup, but do not wipe it off, so as to avoid removing fat from the test, 
and getting the next test too high. 

Second Weighing: Weigh cup again and calculate the per 
cent moisture- by deducting the second weighing from the first weigh- 
ing, dividing the difference by the net weight of the sample (first 
weighing) and multiplying the result by 100. 

Example : 

Butter plus cup 23.463 

Cup 12.863 

Net weight of butter. . 10.600 

First weighing 23.463 

Second weighing 21.784 

Net loss in weight 1.679 

'iTTm ^ 100=15.8% moisture. 

Determination of Per Cent Fat in Butter 
Volumetric Methods 

The Volumetric methods of testing butter for fat, which have 
been devised, are all modifications of the Babcock test. The modi- 
fications refer almost exclusively to such changes in the type and 
graduation of the Babcock test bottle as to make the bottle applica- 
ble for the butter test. In these methods the butter is weighed into 
the butter test bottle and the per cent fat is read off the graduation 
on the neck of the bottle. 

The testing of butter by these methods cannot as yet be consid- 
ered a complete success and the results have not as a whole been 
entirely reliable. The chief obstacles with which the operator is 
confronted in his efforts to determine the per cent of fat in butter 
by the modified Babcock test are : 

1. The reaction of the sulphuric acid used in the test with the 
salt contained in the butter. The reaction generates hydrochloric 
acid gas which tends to char the fat and the escape of which causes 
violent foaming to the extent of forcing a portion of the contents 
out of the bottle. 

The danger of charring the fat has been largely overcome by 
adding water before the addition of the acid and by filling the 



Testing Butter 635 

bottle to the bottom of the neck with water, immediately after the 
acid has been added and mixed. 

The danger of violent foaming and expulsion of a portion of 
the sample is minimized materially, if not entirely prevented, by 
adding the acid very slowly, in numerous installments and mix- 
ing thoroughly after each addition. 

2. The experimental error in a product containing so high a 
percentage of the ingredient to be determined as is the case with 
fat in butter (butter contains 80 or more per cent fat) is naturally 
proportionally great, and the causes which introduce the experimen- 
tal error are fixed and cannot be removed. Thus, in estimating fat 
by volume, it must be assumed that the butterfat has a definite spe- 
cific gravity, that is, that a given weight occupies a definite volume. 
This is not the case. Butterfat represents a compound of several 
fats, varying widely in specific gravity and the proportion in which 
these different fats are present in the mixed butterfat varies consid- 
erably with breed, period of lactation and feed, as determined by 
locality and season of the year. While the variations in the specific 
gravity of the mixed butterfat are not large, yet, with butter con- 
taining 80 per cent fat or over, they do affect the volume of the fat 
column and therefore the accuracy of the reading. This one factor 
is entirely beyond the control of the operator. 

Again, the temperature of the fat column when read is another 
factor introducing experimental error. By the intelligent use of 
the water bath, the temperature can be controlled within reasonable 
limits, thus minimizing the effect of this interfering factor to a con- 
siderable extent. 

The modified Babcock tests for butter which have been devised 
are those in the operation of which the Hepburn bottle, the Wagner 
bottle and the Wright boftle are used. They are briefly described in 
the following paragraphs. 

Hepburn^ Test Bottles. 

Two types of bottles have been designed by Hepburn, namely, 
the 9 inch, 9 gram, 90 per cent bottle, and the 6 inch, 6 gram, 90 per 
cent bottle. 

The 9 inch, 9 gram, 90 per cent bottle, — The graduated por- 
tion has a capacity of 90 per cent of the sample tested. 90 per 

1 Hepburn, A Modified Babcock Method for Determining Fat in Butter. 
Thesis for I>egTee of Ph.D., Cornell, 1918. 



636 



Testing Butter 



cent of 9 grams is 8.1 grams. Since the specific gravity of butterfat, 

under test conditions, averages approximately .9, the 8.1 grams of 

8 1 
butterfat occupy a space of -^ or 9 cc. The volume of the neck, 

from to 90, therefore, must occupy exactly 9 cc. This volume 
calls for a test bottle of the following dimensions : Height over all, 
approximately 8.8 inches. Length of graduated portion of neck, 




Pig-. 105 



Fig-. 106 



Hepburn Butter Test Bottles 

Courtesy T^ouis F. Nafis 



139 mm. Diameter of graduated portion of neck, 9.07 mm. The 
graduated portion of neck is divided into 90 divisions. This bottle 
is applicable for a Babcock centrifuge with a wheel diameter of 18 
inches or more. 



Testing Butter 637 

■ : The 6 inch, 6 gram, 90 per cent bottle,— The graduated portion 

of the bottle has a capacity of 90 per cent of the sample tested. 90 

per cent of 6 grams = 5.4 grams. Since the specific gravity of 

butterfat, under test conditions, averages approximately .9, the 5.4 

5.4 
grams of butterfat occupy a space of -q- or 6 cc. The volume of 

the neck of the test bottle, from to 90, therefore, must be exactly 
6 cc. This volume calls for a type of bottle with the following 
dimensions: Height over all, approximately 6.5 inches. Length of 
graduated portion of neck, 93.5 mm. Diameter of graduated por- 
tion of neck, 9.04 mm. The graduation from to 90 is divided into 
90 divisions. This bottle is adapted for Babcock testers with a 
diameter of less than 18 inches. 

Scales, sensibility reciprocal .01 grams. 

Chemicals, commercial sulphuric acid, specific gravity 1.82 to 
1.83. Glymol, or high grade white mineral oil. 

Operation of Test with 9 inch, 9 gram, 90 per cent bottle. — ■ 

Transfer, preferably by pouring, 9 grams of the properly prepared, 
thickly fluid sample of butter into the test bottle previously balanced 
on the scales. Add 9 cc. of lukewarm water and then 17.5 cc. com- 
mercial sulphuric acid. Add the acid carefully, in small portions, 
mixing thoroughly after each addition, until all of the 17.5 cc. has 
been added. This precaution is necessary in order to avoid exces- 
sive foaming and loss of sample due to action between acid and salt 
in the butter. 

After the contents of the bottle have been thoroughly mixed, add 
a sufficient amount of water to fill the bottle to the base of the neck. 
Centrifuge in Babcock tester for five minutes at the usual speed for 
the same size tester as used for milk and cream. See Table 104. Add 
hot water to near the top of the graduation and whirl for four min- 
utes. Transfer bottles to the hot water bath and hold at a tem- 
perature of 125° to 130° F. for not less than three minutes. Add a 
few drops of glymol and read at once. The reading gives the per- 
centage of butterfat direct. 

Operation of Test with the 6 inch, 6 gram, 90 per cent bottle. 
— Follow the directions given for the operation of the test with the 
9 inch, 9 gram, 90 per cent bottle with the following modifications : 
Instead of 9 grams, weigh 6 grams of the butter into the test bottle, 



638 Testing Butter 

and instead of 9 cc. add 12 cc. of lukewarm water just before the 
acid is added. 

Accuracy of Results. — Hepburn, as the result of a comparison 
of tests between the two 90 per cent butter test bottles and the 
official, chemical analysis, and embracing work with 124 separate 
samples of butter, finds the modified Babcock test, as described 
above, applicable as a successful commercial method for estimating 
the percentage of fat in butter. 

Other Modifications of the Babcock Test. — Earlier attempts 
to modify the Babcock test, so as to make it suitable for the rapid 
determination of the fat in butter, resulted in the construction and 
use of the Wright bottle and the Wagner bottle. In these bottles 
the graduated portion of the neck has a very narrow diameter and 
the bulk of the fat is assembled in a bulb which is a part of the 
graduated neck. 

Tests with these bottles have proven very uncertain and unrelia- 
ble, probably largely because even slight temperature changes, during 
the reading of the test, caused very great expansions or contractions 
of the fat column in the graduated portion of the neck, due to the 
relatively large volume of fat affected in the bulb of the neck and 
to the very narrow diameter of the graduated neck. This intensity 
of expansion and contraction of the thin fat column that is directly 
connected with the relatively large volume of fat in the bulb of the 
neck rests on the same principle as the mercury column in the ther- 
mometer. For these reasons, therefore, the use of these modi- 
fied Babcock bottles, equipped with bulbs in the neck of the bottle, 
is prone to yield entirely erroneous results and cannot be recom- 
mended for the determination of the percentage of fat in butter. 

Gravimetric Determination. 

Indirect Method. — Official. — Dissolve the dry butter, obtained 
in the moisture determination^ in which no absorbent was used, in 
absolute ether or petroleum ether, transfer to a weighed Gooch, with 
the aid of a wash bottle filled with the solvent and wash until free 
from fat. Dry the Gooch and contents at the temperature of boil- 
ing water until the weight is constant and determine the fat. 

Direct Method.^Oificial.^ — From the dry butter, obtained in 
the determination of moisture,* either with or without the use of an 



1 Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, Vol. II, No. 3, 
November, 1916. 

2 See Determination of Moisture in Butter (OfRciaT* 



Testing Butter 639 

absorbent, extract the fat with anhydrous, alcohol-free ether, receiv- 
ing the solution in a weighed flask. Evaporate the ether, dry the 
extract at the temperature of boiling water and weigh at hourly 
intervals until the weight is constant. 

Fat Determination by Kohman Method.^ 

Kohman recommends the following fat determination in con- 
nection with the moisture test : 

"The moisture is determined as usual over a small flame in a 
tall, rather narrow, lipped aluminum beaker with a capacity of about 
100 cc, using a 10 gram sample. After the beaker is weighed to 
determine the loss of moisture, it is filled with petroleum ether and 
the contents are stirred with a glass rod to secure a thorough mix- 
ture. It is then covered with a watch crystal and allowed to stand 
two or three minutes for the mixture of curd and salt to settle, 
when the solvent is gently decanted off without disturbing the sedi- 
ment. The beaker is then filled with fresh solvent. The curd and 
salt mixture settles rapidly in the fresh solvent and the liquid can 
be decanted off after a very short time. By gently heating the 
beaker now, either on a water bath or a hot plate, or directly over a 
small flame, but not so rapidly as to cause sputtering, the sediment 
can be completely freed of petroleum ether by evaporation in a very 
short time. The per cent of fat is then determined by difference 
upon reweighing the beaker with its contents. The salt is now in 
ideal condition to be determined by titration, using a solution of such 
strength that the number of cc. used represents the per cent of salt. 

Before trying to evaporate the petroleum ether from the mixture 
of curd and salt, it is well to loosen it from the bottom of the beaker, 
gently tapping it on the desk in order to lessen the tendency to sput- 
ter." According to Kohman, this test requires about 15 minutes. 

Fat Determination by Shaw.- 

"In this test for fat, the salt and part of the curd are first re- 
moved with hot water, the remaining curd is dissolved in dilute sul- 
phuric acid, the acid solution is removed from the fat, and the latter 
weighed. 

1 Kohman, A Rapid and Accurate Method for Butter Analysis, Suitable for 

Factory Control "Work. Journal of Ind. and Eng. Chemistry, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1919. 

2 Shaw, A New Method for Determining Fat and Salt in Butter, Especially 

Adapted for Use in Creameries. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A. I. Circular 

202, 1912. 



640 Testing Butter 

Apparatus Required. — "A Babcock centrifuge. A special sep- 
aratory funnel. A balance which is sensitive to 0.01 gram. (A tor- 
sion balance such as is used in the moisture test will answer if it is 
in good condition.) An accurate set of metric weights. A 10- 
cubic centimeter graduated glass cylinder. A 100-cubic centimeter 
glass beaker. 

Special Separatory Funnel. — '"This is essentially a separatory 
funnel with a capillary stem. The capacity of the funnel should be 
about 75 cubic centimeters and its weight Avhen empty should not 
exceed 70 grams. The stopper may be dispensed with if desired. 
It is a convenience in the final weighing, but not a necessity. 

Special Socket. — "This is a double socket for holding the above 
funnel while centrifuging, and is made of heavy sheet copper with 
hangers of steel. Each socket will hold two funnels. The cut 
shows the construction and dimensions. It differs in no material 
way from the socket ordinarily used on the Babcock centrifuge, 
except for the opening in the side. If the dimensions given fail to 
fit the centrifuge at hand, they may be changed to suit so long as the 
dimensions of the barrels are not altered. Care must be taken that 
the capillary stem of the funnel does not project far enough through 
the hole in the socket to strike against the side of the centrifuge 
when being whirled. It is best to fit a disk of rubber gasketing to 
the bottom of the socket. 

Sampling the Butter. — -See previous directions. 

Determining the Fat. — "It will be found more economical in 
some cases if 4 or multiples of 4 determinations are made at once. 
In this case the 2 double sockets containing the funnels will balance 
when placed opposite in the centrifuge. If but 1 or 2 determina- 
tions are to be made it will be necessary to balance the centrifuge 
by putting weights in the opposite socket. First of all the weight of 
the clean and dry separatory funnel must be ascertained, and this 
as well as the other weighings involved must be done with care. 
This weight once found will sufifice for all determinations made 
with that particular funnel unless by accident some of the glass 
should be chipped ofif. A slight scratch made with a file can serve 
to identify the funnels. A paper label can not be used. 

I. Weighing the Charge. — "Counterpoise the small beaker on 
the balance and carefully weigh out 20 grams of the sample mixed as 
directed. 



Testing Butter 



641 



II. Transferring the Charge to the Separatory Funnel. — "Place 
the beaker containing the charge on a radiator or steam pipe until 
the butter is melted. (This may also be accomplished by adding a 
small quantity of boiling water.) Next pour the charge into the 
funnel, which must be maintained in an upright position, and no 





Tig. 107. Shaw Butter Fat Tester 



'ffOtC^tffHf^ 



Tig. 108. Separatory Funnel with 
Capillary Tube 



part of the charge must be lost in transferring. With a fine stream 
of hot water rinse down the sides of the beaker and pour the rinsings 
into the funnel. Repeat this, using not more than a teaspoonful 
of water at a time until the funnel is full to within one-quarter of 
an inch of the shoulder. The rinsing can be done very conveniently 
with the arrangement on many steam centrifuges for filling the 



642 Testing Butter 

Babcock test bottles, i. e., the rubber tube ending in a glass or metal 
point and connecting with a water tank heated by steam. The point 
must be fine, however. Should it be larger than three-sixteenths 
of an inch it can be replaced with the tip of a small oil can. Should 
this arrangement not be at hand one can easily be improvised from 
a tin can, a rubber tube, and an oil-can tip. In transferring the 
melted butter and rinsings the last drop may be prevented from 
running down the outside of the beaker, by touching the lip of the 
beaker to the neck of the separatory funnel. 

III. Centrifuging.- — "Insert the separatory funnel in the special 
socket, allowing the stem to project through the hole in the bottom 
and the handle of the stopcock through the open side. (Caution: 
The socket must always be placed in the centrifuge with the open 
side facing the direction in which the wheel revolves. This is very 
important, for if the opening faces the reverse direction the stop- 
cock will be thrown out and broken. ) Whirl one minute at the same 
speed used in testing milk with the Babcock test. The centrifuge 
must be kept warm. 

IV. Removing the Water. — "Remove the separatory funnel 
from the socket and allow the water to flow through the stopcock 
until the fat (or curd) is within one-eighth of an inch of the stop- 
cock. In this and subsequent operations involving the stopcock one 
must be sure it does not stick. It must always be under control, and 
it is best to give it frequent slight movements when the water or acid 
is running through it to be sure that this control is maintained ; 
otherwise it might stick at a critical moment and the determination 
be lost. The most of the salt and part of the curd are taken out by 
the water. The remainder of the curd and all of the fat stays in the 
funnel. 

V. Dissolving the Curd. — "Measure out 9 cubic centimeters of 
cold water, preferably condensed steam, with the glass graduate and 
pour into the beaker. Add to this 1 1 cubic centimeters of sulphuric 
acid of the same strength used in testing milk and cream (specific 
gravity, 1.82-1.83) and mix by gently shaking. (Caution: Always 
add acid to water and not water to acid, or a serious accident may 
result.) While still very hot add the mixture to the contents of the 
separatory funnel. Now dissolve the curd by giving the funnel a 
circular motion with the hand grasping the neck. Centrifuge one 
minute, as before. Draw off the acid solution till the fat layer is 



Testing Butter 643 

within one-fourth of an inch of the stopcock and repeat the opera- 
tions in this paragraph. 

VI. Freeing the Fat from the Acid Solution.— "The fat will 
now be in a clear transparent layer free from curd, and the solution 
below it will be practically colorless. To separate these two, draw 
off the latter until the fat nearly reaches the stopcock and centrifuge 
another minute. Now allow the fat to come down through the 
stopcock till it just reaches the end of the capillary stem. This last 
step offers no difficulties, providing the stopcock is kept in control, 
but it requires care. 

VII. Determining the Percentage of Fat. — "Carefully dry the 
separatory funnel on the outside with a clean soft towel and weigh it. 
The weight thus obtained minus the weight of the empty funnel 
represents the weight of butterfat in 20 grams of the sample. The 
percentage is obtained by dividing this weight by 2 and multiplying 
by 10. 

Sometimes it is possible to obtain a clear fat layer with but one 
addition of acid, but in the majority of cases it will be found neces- 
sary to add it the second time, as directed. The proportion of acid 
and water selected is the outcome of a number of experiments, and 
is the one that yields the best results. The test for fat alone involves 
4 centrifugings of 1 minute each. The centrifuge should be kept 
warm and the contents of the funnel in a melted state when the acid 
is added. The time consumed should not be much longer than it 
takes to test cream with the Babcock test, and the operations in- 
volved are simple and easily learned. No difficulty has been experi- 
enced in obtaining a clear fat. Occasionally there will appear a 
shght emulsion at the bottom of the fat layer when the fat is drawn 
into the stem. This is so small in amount that it does not seem to 
affect the accuracy of the test to any considerable extent. The 
emulsion should be weighed as fat and considered as such. 

Cleaning the Separatory Funnels. — "The separatory funnels 
should be washed after each determination, but it is not necessary 
to dry them before use providing their weight, when clean and dry, 
has been found. The cleaning is easily done with hot water and 
either soap or cleansing powder. They should be well rinsed off 
with clean water and drained." 

Comparative tests by Shaw show that this test yields results 
which compare very closely with those of the official fat estimation. 
The test can be completed in 20 minutes. 



644 Testing Butter 

Determination of Salt in Butter 

Principle of Salt Tests. — All salt tests are based on the same 
principle. In their operation two chemicals are used, namely silver 
nitrate (Ag NO3) and potassium chromate (Kg Cr O4). The silver 
nitrate has the power of chemically acting on both, the salt or sodium 
chloride (NaCl) and the potassium chromate. With sodium chloride 
the silver nitrate forms silver chloride which is a white precipitate. 
With the potassium chromate the silver nitrate forms silver chro- 
mate which is a brick-red precipitate. The silver nitrate acts first 
on the sodium chloride. Hence, when silver nitrate is added to a 
solution of sodium chloride (salt) which contains some potassium 
chromate, the silver nitrate first combines with the sodium chloride 
until all the chloride is used up and has been converted into silver 
chloride. This precipitate is white. Now, if more silver nitrate is 
added, the silver combines with the chromate, changing the color of 
the precipitate to a brick-red. The moment the brick-red color be- 
comes permanent,' therefore, all the salt has been neutralized, and 
the amount of silver nitrate required to produce this brick-red color 
furnishes the basis for the calculation of the per cent of salt in 
butter. 

Calculation of Per Cent Salt in Butter. — The calculation of 
the per cent salt in butter rests on a similar principle as the calcula- 
tion of the per cent acid in cream. A normal solution of silver 
nitrate neutralizes an equal amount of a normal solution of sodium 
chloride. A normal solution of silver nitrate contains, in 1,000 cc. 
of water, 170 grams of silver nitrate. A normal solution of sodium 
chloride contains, in 1,000 cc. of water, 58.5 grams of sodium chlor- 

170 
ide. Hence, 1 gram of sodium chloride is neutralized by -rnT or 

2.906 grams of silver nitrate. 

If, therefore, a silver nitrate solution is used which contains, in 

1,000 cc. of water, 29.06 grams of silver nitrate, then each cc. of this 

29 06 
solution will contain .^^ or .02906 grams of silver nitrate, and 

.02906 grams of silver nitrate will neutralize 2.906 : 1 = .02906 : X, 
or .01 gram of sodium chloride. If a 10 gram sample of butter is 
used and all of this sample is tested, each cc. of silver nitrate solution 

. , ^ .01 X loa . , „ 

required represents ^7) ^^ -^ P^*" ^^"^ ^^"^- 



Testing Butter 645 

Example. — 10 grams of Ijutter are tested. 32 c c. of silver 
nitrate are required to produce a brick-red color. What is the per 
cent salt? 

32 X -1 = 3.2 per cent salt. 

If, however, the sample of butter, after melting, is made up with 
water to a 250 cc. solution, and only 25 cc. of this solution are tested, 
then each cc. of silver nitrate represents 1 per cent salt. Supposing 
in this case that 3.5 cc. of silver nitrate are required to neutralize 
the 25 cc. of the 250 cc. solution to which the 10 gram sample ol 
butter was made up, then the per cent salt would be 3.5 X 1^=3.5 
per cent. In the case of some salt tests the silver nitrate solution 
is not made as strong as above. Instead of 29.06 grams of silver 
nitrate per 1,000 cc. water, the solution may be made up to only one- 
half or one-quarter this strength, containing 14.53 grams or 7.265 
grams, respectively, of silver nitrate and each cc. would represent 
only .05 or .025 per cent salt, respectively, if all of a 10 gram sam- 
ple of butter is used. 

The potassium chromate solution is prepared by dissolving 10 
grams of dry potassium chromate in 100 cc. of distilled water. 

Salt. — Official Method.^ — Weigh in a counterpoised beaker 
5-10 grams of butter, using portions of about 1 gram from diflferent 
parts of the sample. Add about 20 cc. of hot water and, after the 
butter is melted, transfer the whole to a separatory funnel. Insert 
the stopper and shake for a few moments. Let stand until all the 
fat has collected on the top of the water, then draw off the latter 
into a flask, being careful to let none of the fat globules pass. Again 
add hot water, rinsing the beaker, and repeat the extraction 10-15 
times, using 10-20 cc. of water each time. The washings will con- 
tain all but a mere trace of the sodium chloride originally present in 
the butter. Determine the amount in the whole or an aliquot of the 
liquid by titration with standard silver nitrate, using potassium chro- 
mate as an indicator. 

Kohman Salt Test. — See Fat Determination by Kohman. 

Determination of Salt by Shaw.- 
This is a continuation of the Shaw test for fat in butter. 



1 Journal of the Association of Official Agricultural Chemists, Vol. II. No. 3, 
November 15, 1916. ^ , . ^ ^-^ ^ . ,, 

2 Shaw, A New Method for Determining Fat and Salt in Butter, Especially 
Adapted for Use in Creameries. U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, B. A. I. Circular 
202, 1912. 



646 Testing Butter 

Additional Apparatus Required. — "A 50-cubic centimeter bur- 
ette graduated in tenth cubic centimeters. A 250-cubic centimeter 
volumetric flask. A 25-cubic centimeter pipette. A 250-cubic cen- 
timeter beaker or white cup. 

Chemicals Required. — '"An aqueous silver-nitrate solution con- 
taining 14.525 grams pure silver nitrate per liter. This solution 
may be obtained from a chemical supply house. A 10 per cent 
aqueous solution of potassium chromate, which may be obtained at 
a drug store. 

Method. — *'To determine the percentage of salt the wash water, 
obtained as previously directed in Paragraph IV, see Shaw test for 
fat, is allowed to run into the 250-cubic centimeter flask, and the 
operations in Paragraph IV conducted 3 times instead of but once, 
the water each time being allowed to run into the flask. 

After the. washings have become cool the flask is filled to the 
mark with cold water and the contents mixed. Twenty-five cubic 
centimeters, which represents 2 grams of the original sample, are 
then measured with the pipette into the beaker or cup and titrated 
with the silver-nitrate solution from the burette, using 2 or 3 drops 
of the potassium-chromate solution as the indicator. The first 
appearance of a permanent red is the end point. The silver-nitrate 
solution is of such strength that 2 cubic centimeters represent 1 per 
cent of salt if a 1-gram charge is used. In the above test where 

2 grams are represented [-^^X 20 ) the number of cubic centimeters 

divided by 4 gives the percentage of salt in the original sample. As 
an example, if the burette reading showed that 10.6 cubic centimeters 
of the silver-nitrate solution were consumed in reaching the end 
point, then 10.6 divided by 4, or 2.65, would be the percentage of 
salt in that particular sample of butter. 

The Perkins Salt Test. 

Professor A. E. Perkins of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment 
Station recommends the following method for the determination of 
the per cent of salt in butter : 

Weigh out either 5 or 10 grams of the butter to be tested, which 
has previously been warmed to a salvy consistency and very thor- 
oughly mixed, into any receptacle, such as a beaker or cup. Warm 
gently until just melted, then add 20 or 30 cc. of commercial ace- 
tone, and about 1 cc. of a saturated water solution of potassium chro- 



Testing Butter 647 

mate. A solution of silver nitrate containing 29.06 grams per liter, 
is then added slowly from a burette, the mixture containing the 
butter being thoroughly shaken or stirred. After the first 
appearance of a brick-red coloration, the silver nitrate solution is 
added, a drop at a time, until a brick color develops which is perma- 
nent for several minutes after thorough stirring or shaking. 

If 10 grams of butter have been taken, each cc. of silver nitrate 
solution used represents .1 per cent of salt in the butter; thus, if the 
burette reading showed 29 cc. of silver nitrate solution had been 
used, the butter under examination contained 2.9 per cent salt. If 
only a 5 gram sample is taken, each cc. of silver nitrate solution used 
will represent .2 per cent of salt in the butter. 

The residue from any of the moisture tests can be used by add- 
ing a little water to replace that driven oflf by drying, and the chem- 
icals as directed above. (The titration can be made in the same cup 
used for the moisture determination.) 

If the commercial acetone is not available a mixture of equal 
parts of alcohol and ether may be substituted with equally good 
results. (Denatured alcohol such as is sold for fuel purposes, and 
the cheaper grades of ether are entirely satisfactory.) 

SALT TEST FOR FACTORY USE 

By Hunziker and Hosman.^ 

Equipment. — One salt tester. This is a copper container, 3| 
inches deep, 2^/^ inches in diameter, and holding about 250 cc. It 
is equipped at its top edge with a heavy rubber ring on which the 
moisture evaporating dish is inverted, and with a lightning jar 
wire clamp for pressing the evaporating dish down on the rubber 
ring. 

One 100 cc. glass cylinder (low style). 

One 25 cc pipette. 

One or more 150 cc flasks (cone shape) for titrating. 

One 50 cc burette with stand. 

One large bottle, with glass tubing and clamps to connect with 
burette, for standard silver nitrate solution. 

One small bottle for potassium chromate solution. 

Chemicals. — Sih'cr nitrate solution containing 7.265 grams 
silver nitrate in 1000 cc water. 

Potassium chromate solution. 



^ Hunziker and Hosman, Blue Valley Research Laboratory, 1918. 



648 



Testing Butter 



Operation of Test. — This test is intended to be a continuation 
of the moisture test in which an evaporating dish of a diameter of 
2^ inches is used. 

(1). At the conclusion of the moisture test fill the 100 c.c. cylin- 
der to the mark with warm water, temperature about 100° F., and 
pour this water into the salt tester. 

(2). Invert moisture evaporating dish over rubber ring of salt 
tester and make the dish fast by means of wire clamp. 




Fig-. 109. Huuziker Salt Tester 
and Evaporatingr Dish 



Fig-. 110. Hunziber Salt Tester 
Beady for Shaking: 



(3). Now shake the salt tester vigorously, giving it about 30 
shakes. This causes the salt in the evaporating dish to be washed 
out by the warm water. 

(4). Remove evaporating dish and transfer with pipette 25 
c.c. of the salt solution from the salt tester into the titrating flask. 

(5). Add 1 c.c. of potassium chromate solution to the titrat- 
ing flask and from burette slowly add silver nitrate solution until a 
permanent brick-red precipitate is obtained. The titrating flask 
must be constantly and thoroughly agitated by a rotating motion 
while the silver nitrate solution is added. 

(6). If a 10-gram sample of butter is used in the moisture test, 
each c.c. silver nitrate solution represents .1 per cent salt. Assum- 
ing that 35 c.c. silver nitrate solution was used, the butter then con- 

35 
tained — = 3.5%salt. 
10 



Testing Butter 649 

(7). If the sample of butter is not exactly 10 grams, but some- 
what more or less, the per cent of salt is readily calculated by divid- 
ing the c.c. silver nitrate solution required, by the exact weight of 
the sample of butter. Say the sample weighed 10.5 grams and re- 
quired 35 c.c. of silver nitrate solution, the butter then contained 

35 
r^ = 3.3% salt. 

(8). This salt test occupies about five minutes. It is exceed- 
ingly simple and accurate, when made in accordance with the above 
directions. It eliminates the weighing of the sample for the salt 
determination and it automatically washes the moisture evaporating 
cup. For uniformly reliable results the following precautions must 
be observed: 

(a). Do not slobber the melted butterfat in the evaporating 
dish, over the outside of the salt tester. The butter must stay inside 
of the periphery of the evaporating dish, when the latter is inverted 
over the tester. 

(b). Do not use water at a temperature lower, nor much 
higher than 100° F. Water must be warm enough to melt the fat. 
If too warm it will generate pressure when shaking the tester, caus- 
ing loss of contents. 

(c). Strap the evaporating dish down to the tester so that 
there is no leak around the rubber ring. 

(d). Shake vigorously thirty (30) times. 

(e). Give the titrating flask the proper rotating movement for 
vigorous and continuous agitation, while the silver nitrate solution 
runs from the burette. 

(/). Stop titration when the desired color has been reached 
(brick-red). 

(^r). It is necessary to give the fat time to rise in the tester 
after shaking. This requires about one minute. For this reason, 
the tester should be set down after shaking, and the aluminum cup 
taken oflf and wiped dry and gotten ready for the next weighing of 
butter. While this is done, the fat in the tester automatically rises 
to the surface. 

(h). If the edges of the evaporating dish become uneven, due 
to wear, causing the cup to leak when inverted over the rubber ring 
of the tester, invert the cup over a piece of fine emery cloth, and 
wear down the edges until even. 



650 Testing Butter 

10. The speed of the entire test will much depend on the 
proper planning and organizing of the work of both the moisture 
and the salt test, so as to avoid any waiting between steps, such as 
waiting for the evaporating dish to cool, or for the fat to rise to 
the surface in the tester. It has been found that the maximum 
speed is obtained by running the moisture and the salt tests of three 
samples together. 

11. Use only evaporating dishes without lips. 

Determination of Curd. 

Casein, Ash and Chlorin. — Official. — Cover the crucible, con- 
taining the residue from the fat determination by the indirect 
method, see official fat determination, and heat gently at first, then 
raise the temperature gradually to just below redness. The cover 
may then be removed and heating continued until the contents of 
the crucible are white. The loss in weight represents casein, and 
the residue in the crucible, mineral water. Dissolve this mineral 
matter in water slightly acidified with nitric acid and determine 
chlorin, either gravimetrically or volumetrically. 

The curd or casein content of butter as determined by the Offi- 
cial Method includes the lactose also. Since normal butter contains 
approximately .3 per cent lactose, the nitrogenous curd content of 
butter is in reality about .3 per cent lower than the per cent curd as 
determined by the Official Method. 

For making an exact determination of curd, in contradistinction 
to the curd determination, as the term is used in the Official Method, 
the following method is recommended :^ 

Dry about 10 grams of butter in a flat-bottom porcelain evap- 
orating dish in a steam drying oven at about 98 to 99 degrees C. 
Remove the fat by dissolving with petroleum ether and filter, trans- 
ferring the entire contents of the evaporating dish to the filter, and 
rinsing with petroleum ether. Transfer filter paper and contents 
to a Kjeldahl flask and determine the nitrogen by the Kjeldahl 
method, using the factor 6.38 in calculating the per cent of protein 
or curd. 

The United States Bureau of Chemistry^ recommends the same 
method but suggests the use of a 25 gram sample. 



1 Hunziker, Spltzer and Mills, The Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream for Butter Making. Purdue Bulletin 203, 1917. 

2 United States Bureau of Chemistry, Information by Correspondence, 
March, 1919. 



The Mojonnier Test 651 

Determination of Lactose. ^ 

"The lactose in butter is never determined direct, but always by 
difference, unless adulteration of the sample with sugar is suspected, 
in which case the water extract of the curd may be examined by the 
polariscope or by the copper reduction method. 

Determination of Acid.- 

Weigh 5 grams of butter into a 250 cc. tall beaker, and add 
25 cc. of distilled water free from COo. Warm the mixture to about 
40 degrees C, or until the butter is all melted. Add .5 cc. of a 1 
per cent solution of phenolphthalein and titrate to a sharp pink with 

^NaOH. 

The Mojonnier Test for Fat and Solids in Milk, Skim Milk, 
Buttermilk and Cream, and for Fat and Moisture in Butter 

Equipment. — Install the tester on a solid foundation in a 
room protected against excessive fluctuations in temperature. 

1. Tester for butter fat. 

2. Tester for total solids. 

3. Fat extraction flasks. 

4. Eight 3^-inch aluminum dishes without covers and with 
tall counterpoise which tares the eight dishes, for fat tests. 

5. Eight 3-inch aluminum dishes with covers and short coun- 
terpoise for solids tests. 

6. Fat oven. Keep temperature at 135° C. 

7. Cooling chamber. 

8. Solids oven. Keep temperature at 100° C. 

9. 250° C. thermometer for solids oven. Have mercury bulb 
fit snugly into brass mercury well. Brass mercury well must always 
form good contact with hot plate. 

10. 250° C. thermometer for fat oven. Observe same pre- 
cautions as in (9). 

11. Vacuum gauge on main suction line, registers either or 
both ovens. 

12. Solids plate. Must be level and held at 180° C. 

13. Fat plate. Hold at 135° C. 



1 United States Bureau of Chemistry, Information by Correspondence, March, 
1919. 

2 Hunziker. Spitzer and Mills, Pasteurization of Sour, Farm-Skimmed 
Cream for Butter Making. Purdue Bulletin 203, 1917. 



652 



Thk Mojonnier Test 



14. Rheostat for fat plate. Lever must make good contact 
with one button, not with two at a time. When right button has 
been found that maintains constant temperature, mark this point 
on rheostat rim. When starting tester each day, turn handle on 
full until temperature has risen to within right point, then turn 
back to previously marked button. 

8 5 30 31 25 II 7 10 3 13 6 4 




1 r 

23 17 16 29 14 15 19 18 

Figf. 111. Mojonnier Tester 

Courtesy Mojonnier Bros. Co. 



24 



15. 

16. 
in (14). 

17. 
in (14). 

18. 

19.. 



Rheostat for oven. Observe same precautions as in (14). 
Rheostat for solids oven. Observe same precautions as 

Rheostat for solids plate. Observe same precautions as 



Handle for centrifuge. 

Snap switches for each hot plate showing temperature 
and time for treating samples at various points. 

20. Power unit, consisting of vacuum pump, water circulating 
pump and motor for same. Keep pump filled to air cock with oil 
furnished with tester. 



The Mojonnier Test 653 

21. Automatic burettes and cans holding the water, ammonia, 
alcohol, ethyl ether and petroleum ether, placed in the order in 
which they are used. Each division on burettes delivers the proper 
amount of the desired reagent for a single extraction. 

22. Hood, to be placed over fat dishes when evaporating off 
ether. 

23. Legs, to be fastened to floor with lag screws. 

24. This side need not be fastened to floor. If necessary 
to take out power unit disconnect connections in rear of machine 
and move this part of machine forward. 

25. Chemical balance. Keep level, clean and handle care- 
fully. Raise knife edges gradually and with care. Clean balance 
daily. Keep weights clean. When weights show signs of wear, 
order new ones. 

26. Cock, to exhaust vacuum from oven when cock (27) is 
closed. Must be kept closed where vacuum is turned on oven. 

27. Cock, that switches vacuum from main line into vacuum 
oven. Set of cocks at right for solids oven, set of cocks at left is 
for fat oven. 

28. Hole in top of fat plate holder, communicating with suc- 
tion fan, on power unit. Run exhaust pipe on suction fan out of 
window and keep hood over the dishes in order to drive all ether 
fumes from room. 

29. Stool, to be screwed to floor. 

Fresh Milk, Skim Milk, Buttermilk and Whey 
Butterfat Determination 

(1). Keep fat dishes in vacuum oven at least five minutes 
while oven is heated, with vacuum on. 

(2). Cool fat dishes in cooling oven for seven minutes, with 
pump turned on and bell set at seven minutes. 

(3). Weigh fat dish without cover and return it to cooling 
oven. 

(4). Use the ten-gram pipettes for measuring out ten grams 
of milk into cleaned but not necessarily dried Mojonnier extraction 
flask. Use only ten-gram pipettes furnished with tester and do not 
use 10 c.c. pipettes. The pipette is graduated to deliver ten grams 
of milk after allowing all milk to run out and letting it drain for 



654 



The Mojonnier Test 



fifteen seconds longer, then blowing gently to remove last drop. 
The pipette must be perfectly clean and dry before being used. 
Wash frequently with sulphuric acid, water, alcohol and ether to 
insure having a clean pipette. 

(5). Remove flask from holder and run 4 c.c. water (one 
charge on water burette) into each flask. Be careful not to add 
more. Shake well until all of sample is mixed with water. This 
can be done without inserting cork. 





Tig. 112 
Chianomatic Balance 



Extraction Plask 



Courtesy Mojonnier Bros. Co. 

(6). Before replacing flask into holder, add 1^ c.c. c.p. am- 
monia. Shake well so that all of sample is well mixed with am- 
monia. This can be done without inserting cork. 

(7). Add 95 per cent alcohol up to base of top bulb of extrac- 
tion flask. Insert cork, using best quality corks only. Replace 
flask into flask holder. Shake thoroughly and see that no milk ad- 
heres to any part of flask undissolved. In case particles of milk 
stick to side of flask, shake thoroughly until these are washed away. 
It is of the utmost importance to shake thoroughly at this point. 

(8). Add 25 c.c. ethyl ether, insert corks and shake vigorously, 
lengthwise of flask, with liquid in large bulb of flask, and small bulb 
extended upward. Stop shaking at end of five seconds until all 
liquid has run into large bulb and repeat vigorous shaking for four 
five-second periods. 



The Mojonnier Test 655 

(9). Add 25 c.c. petroleum ether and shake in same way. 

(10). Place extraction flasks into centrifuge and whirl for 
thirty turns at speed of about 600 R. P. M. Have centrifuge bal- 
anced with small oil sample bottles furnished with tester. 

(11). Place four 3j^-inch dishes in line on shelf adjoining hot 
plate, keeping them in order in which their weights were posted 
upon record sheet. Aim to have numbers on flasks correspond with 
number of dishes. 

(12). Pour ether extraction above dividing line into proper 
dishes, and slide dishes over onto hot plate, which should be held 
at a temperature of 135 degrees C, as indicated by thermometer in- 
serted in nickel plated mercury well. Cover dishes with hood. 

(13) Repeat the extraction, shaking first to prevent formation 
of precipitate, then adding successively 5 c.c. of 95 per cent alcohol, 
then 15 c.c. ethyl ether, and then 15 c.c. petroleum ether, and shake 
vigorously after the addition of each of above three reagents for 
four five-second periods. 

(14). Whirl in centrifuge for thirty turns. 

(15). Move aluminum dishes back upon shelf adjoining hot 
plate and pour the second extraction into proper dishes. Never 
pour extraction into hot dish. Remove dish from hot plate as soon 
as ether is all evaporated. 

(16). When all of ether has evaporated place dishes into 
vacuum oven, which should have a temperature of 135 degrees cen- 
trigrade. Keep them there for five minutes after the vacuum gauge 
shows at least twenty-two inches of vacuum. 

(17). Place dishes into cooler for seven minutes, with pump 
outfit running. See that water is running through cooling plates. 

(18). Place counterpoise for dish and the approximate weight 
for fat on right hand balance pan. 

( 19). Transfer dish to left hand balance pan and weigh quick- 
ly to 0.10 milligram (0.0001 gr.). 

(20) Weight of fat divided by weight of sample taken, mul- 
tiplied by 100, represents per cent butter fat. 

Total Solids Determination 

(1). Keep solids dishes in vacuum oven, while oven is heated, 
with vacuum on. 



656 The Mojonnier Test 

(2). Cool solids dishes in cooling oven for five minutes, with 
pump turned on and bell set at five minutes. 

(3). Weigh solids dish, with cover on. Return dish to cool- 
ing oven. 

(4). Fill one two-gram pipette with the milk from properly 
mixed sample, place upon weighing cross, weigh and record. 

(5). Transfer contents of pipette to tared solids dish, return 
pipette to weighing cross, reweigh and record. 

(6). Place solids dish with contents on solids hot plate, tem- 
perature 180° C. 

(7). When evaporation has been completed (in about two 
minutes) place dish in solids oven, temperature 100° C. 

(8). Turn on vacuum and set bell for ten minutes. 

(9). When bell rings, transfer dish to cooling oven and set 
bell for five minutes. 

(10). When bell rings, weigh dish and calculate per cent total 
solids by dividing net weight of dry solids by net weight of milk 
taken (2 grams) and multiplying result by 100. 

Cream 

Preparation of Sample. — Mix sample thoroughly in the con- 
tainer. Homogenized cream requires no special treatment. Very 
thick, lumpy or churned cream should be warmed sufficiently to se- 
cure uniform and homogeneous mixture. Heat till butter fat is all 
just barely melted. 

Fat Determination 

(1). Prepare fat dishes as directed in paragraphs 1 to 3, in- 
clusive, for Butterfat Determination of Fresh Milk. 

(2). Weigh one gram of the sample into the tared butter boat, 
or directly into the tared extraction flask. 

(3). Remove flask from holder and add enough water to make 
a total of 10 c.c. Insert cork and mix thoroughly by shaking. 

(4). Add 1.5 c.c. (one charge) of ammonia in the case of 
sweet cream, or 3 c.c. of ammonia in the case of sour cream. This 
is very important. 

(5). From this point on to the end of the test continue as per 
directions for Butterfat Determination of Fresh Milk, paragraphs 
7 to 20, inclusive, with the following exceptions : 



The Mojonnier Test 657^ 

(a). For the second extraction, paragraph 13, use 25 c.c. of 
each ether, instead of 15 c.c. 

(b). At the end of the second extraction it may be necessary 
to add quite a little more alcohol, in order to bring the dividing line 
up to the required height. 

Total Solids Determination 

(1). Prepare soHds dishes as directed in paragraphs 1 to 3, 
inclusive, for Total Solids Determination of Fresh Milk. 

(2). Use a one gram sample. Add 1 c.c. distilled water to 
the sample in the dish. 

(3). Place not more than two dishes at once upon hot plate. 
Allow all visible moisture to evaporate. During evaporation, turn 
the dishes around with crucible tongs, slowly, so as to produce an 
even boiling over the whole bottom surface of the dishes. Evapora- 
tion should require not more than two minutes. The end point is 
reached when bubbling and cracking ceases and sample shows first 
trace of brown. 

(4). Place dishes into vacuum oven at 100° C, and turn on 
vacuum. Heat for 10 minutes. The gauge should register not less 
than 22 inches of vacuum. If for any reason the vacuum is lower 
than 22 inches, leave dishes in oven for 20 minutes. 

(5). Transfer dishes to cooler. Allow them to cool for five 
minutes. 

(6). Weigh dishes with covers on, being careful to weigh 
quickly and very exactly. 

(7), Net weight of dried solids divided by net weight of 
cream taken, multiplied by 100, represents per cent total solids. 

Butter 

Preparation of Sample. — Method I. Remove about one-half 
pound butter from different parts of churn, or tub, or other pack- 
age, with a butter trier, to a widemouth bottle or Erlenmeyer flask, 
insert rubber stopper which carries a thermometer that reaches 
down into the mass of butter. Heat bottle with contents in hot 
water to 40° C. (104° F.). Do not heat to higher temperature. 
Shake vigorously. Or, Method H. Transfer butter from churn, 
tub or other package into mason jar, beaker or glass tumbler, ■ 



658 The MojONNiER Test 

wide-mouthed bottle, or any other receptacle that permits of cover- 
ing tightly to prevent evaporation. Allow sealed receptacle to stand 
in warm room or in warm water until the butter is soft enough for 
thorough stirring, with table knife, spatula or mechanical stirrer. 
At 75 to 80° F. butter stirs into a waxy mass from which water or 
casein will not separate. In this form it is put into boat or flask, to 
be weighed. 

Butter Fat Determination 

(1). Transfer. about one gram of butter sample to butter boat, 
weigh quickly and insert boat into extraction flask. 

(2). Remove extraction flask from holder and add 9 c.c. hot 
water. Shake vigorously so as to mix butter and water thoroughly. 

(3). Before replacing flask into holder add 1.5 c.c. C. P. am- 
monia and shake thoroughly until mixture is complete. 

(4). Add 10 c.c. of 95 per cent alcohol. Insert cork. Re- 
place flask into holder. Shake thoroughly. Use best quality cork. 

(5). Cool flask by running cold water over lower end of ex- 
traction flask, if flask is very hot. Otherwise cooling is not neces- 
sary. 

(6). Add 25 c.c. ethyl ether. Insert cork, shake vigorously 
until all butter is dissolved out of boat. Then add 25 c.c. petroleum 
ether and repeat operation. 

(7). Centrifuge flask, turning handle thirty turns after a 
speed of about 600 R. P. M. has been reached. 

(8). Pour off extractions into proper weighed S}i-'mch alum- 
inum dishes. Repeat above extraction, adding successively 5 c.c. of 
95 per cent alcohol, then 25 c.c. of each of the ethers. For extreme 
accuracy repeat extraction for third time. The second extraction 
will remove all but .10 to .15 per cent of the fat. For factory con- 
trol work, therefore, the third extraction is not necessary. 

(9). Evaporate off ether at 135° C. on fat plate and when 
all ether is off, dry fat in fat oven held at 135° C. for five minutes 
after the vacuum has reached at least 22 inches. 

(10). Cool, weigh and calculate per cent butterfat by divid- 
ing net weight of extracted fat by net weight of sample taken, and 
multiplying quotient by 100, 



Deitection of Renovated Butter and Oleomargarine 659 

Moisture Determination 

(1). Weigh about one gram of properly prepared sample into 
solids dish which has previously been treated as per directions for 
Total Solids Determination of Fresh Milk, paragraphs 1 to 3, in- 
clusive. 

(2). Heat solids dish with contents on hot plate at 180° C. 
until foaming ceases. 

(3) Place in vacuum oven held at 100° C. for seven minutes. 

(4). Cool,weigh and calculate per cent moisture by dividing 
loss in weight by net weight of original sample, and multiply quotient 
by 100. 

Detection of Butter, Renovated Butter and Oleomargarine 

Microscopic Examination. — Official.' — "Place a small portion 
of the fresh unmelted sample, taken from the inside of the mass, on 
a slide, add a drop of pure sweet oil, cover with gentle pressure, and 
examine with a one-half to one-eighth inch objective for crystals of 
lard, etc. Examine the same specimen with polarized light and a 
selenite plate without the use of oil. Pure fresh butter will neither 
show crystals nor a particolored field with selenite. Other fats 
melted and cooled and mixed with butter will usually present crystals 
and variegated colors with the selenite plate. 

For further microscopic study dissolve from 3 to 4 cc. of the fat 
in 15 cc. of ether in a test tube. Close the tube with a loose plug of 
cotton wool and allow to stand from twelve to twenty-four hours at 
20° to 25° C. When crystals form at the bottom of the tube, they 
are removed with a pipette, glass rod, or tube, placed on a slide, cov- 
ered, and examined. The crystals formed by later deposits may be 
examined in a similar way." 

Foam Test- 
Heat a small piece of butter (2 to 3 grams) either in a spoon or 
in an evaporating dish, over a free flame. Heat slowly until the fat 
boils briskly. If it is butter it will boil quietly and noiselessly and 
it will foam abundantly. If it is renovated butter or oleomargarine, 
it will boil noisily, it will bump and sputter, like a mixture of hot 



^ Journal Association Offlcial Agricultural Chemists, Vol. II, No. 3, 1916. 
- Patrick, Household Tests for the Detection of Oleomargarine and Reno- 
vated Butter, Farmers' Bulletin 131. 



660 Bacteiriologicai. Analyses 

grease and water when boiled, and it will produce little or no foam. 
Leach^ finds that a very slight foam is sometimes observable with 
occasional samples of renovated butter, but nothing like the abun- 
dant amount of foam produced by genuine butter. 

Appearance of the Melted Fat. — Provisional^ — "Melt from 
50 to 100 grams of butter or process butter at 50° C. The curd 
from butter will settle, leaving a clear supernatant fat. On the other 
hand, the supernatant fat in the case of process butter does not 
assume that clear appearance, but remains more or less turbid." 
Butter which has been overworked will also melt in a cloudy man- 
ner.^ 

The Waterhouse Test^ 

Heat about 50 cc. of well-mixed sweet milk, or sweet skim milk, 
in a beaker to boiling and add from 5 to 10 grams of the sample to 
be tested. Stir, preferably with a small wooden stick, until all the 
fat is melted. Then place the beaker in a dish of ice-cold water and 
continue the stirring, until the fat hardens and solidifies. If the fat 
is oleomargarine, it can be readily gathered and formed by the stir- 
rer into one lump or clot. If the fat is genuine butter, or renovated 
butter, it cannot be so collected, but it remains, in a granulated con- 
dition, distributed throughout the milk in small particles. 

Chapter XXIII. 
BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYSES 

It is frequently desirable and advantageous for the creamery to 
make bacteriological analyses of its butter, or of the products which 
enter into the process of manufacture, such as milk, skim milk, 
starter, cream before and after pasteurization, and to also examine 
bacteriologically some of its equipment, particularly the cream cans, 
vats, pipe lines, churns, etc. 

Some creameries make bacteriological determinations of their 
butter regularly, either of each churning, or once per week, etc. 
Others in their attempt to locate the cause of certain flavor defects 
or inferior keeping quality, resort to bacteriological studies of cer- 
tain stages of the process of manufacture. 

Many of the butter defects are not caused by bacterial action, 



1 Leach, Food Inspection and Analysis, 1914. 

2 Journal Association Official Agricultural Chemists, Vol. II, No. 3, 1916. 

3 Parsons, Journal Am. Chem. Soc, 23, 1901. 



Bactkrioi.ogicaIv Analyses 661 

and therefore cannot be avoided through a study of the bacterial 
flora of the product or the equipment, nor through the inauguration 
of precautions which minimize bacteriological contamination, while 
others are known to be of bacterial origin and in the latter type of 
cases bacteriological counts may lead to channels through which 
permanent solution may be made possible. 

As a whole the direct benefit of bacteriological work in the 
creamery is very limited, but such work may be of value indirectly 
inasmuch as the results are an index, within reasonable limitations, 
of the thoroughness with which some of the more important work 
relating to quality is performed. 

While it is obviously beyond the province of this volume to give 
detailed directions in the technique of bacteriological analyses, in the 
preparation of culture media and in microscopic study of bacteriolog- 
ical preparations, for all of which the reader is referred to Manuals 
on Bacteriology, it is deemed advisable to here offer some sugges- 
tions relating to these special products, that may serve for the 
guidance of those who are interested in a bacteriological study of 
creamery problems. 

Sampling. — Samples of milk, skim milk, cream and similar 
products are best taken into small sterile glass jars with screw top 
lined with cork or similar material, or in small sterile glass-stop- 
pered bottles. The liquid from which the sample is taken must be 
thoroughly mixed and the dipper or tube with which the sample is 
taken must be perfectly sterile, otherwise the results are not depend- 
able. About 10 cc. is usually sufficient. 

In the case of butter the sample may be placed into a sterile 
petri dish or in a sterile bottle as in the case of milk. This is most 
conveniently done with a sterile trier, the surface of the plug being 
removed and a segment from one to two inches in length is trans- 
ferred with a sterile knife or spatula to the petri dish or bottle. 

All samples should be analyzed as soon as possible. If this can- 
not be done immediately the receptacles containing them should be 
placed on ice or otherwise kept at a temperature as near 32° F. as 
possible. Especially, milk and cream samples should be immedi- 
ately cooled to 35° F. or below and kept at that temperature until 
needed. 



662 Bacteriological Analyses 

Dilutions for Numerical Counts. — For dilutions sterile, glass 
stoppered 250 cc. flasks are conveniently used. In the case of milk 
or cream use 2 cc. of sample and 198 cc. of sterile water. The milk 
or cream is most readily measured and transferred to the dilution 
flask by the use of sterile, straight stem, bulbless pipettes. This 
constitutes the first dilution. 

In the case of butter, weigh two grams of the sample into a 
tared flask. Mix with enough sterile water at a temperature of 98 
to 100° F. to make up 100 cubic centimeters. This constitutes the 
first dilution. If yeast and mold counts only are made of butter, 
dilutions may be dispensed with entirely. In this case the butter 
sample is melted at low heat (not exceeding 100° F), and 1 cc. of 
this warm melted butter is transferred direct to the petri dish to 
which previously was added 1 cc. of tartaric acid and the plating is 
finished by pouring over the mixture of melted butter and tartaric 
acid 10 cc. of nutrient agar. 

Further dilutions of milk, cream and butter are made in a similar 
manner as the first dilution, using in the place of the original sample, 
portions of the diluted sample. Dilutions should be sufficient to 
limit the number of colonies on the plates to about 50 to 100 colonies 
per plate. Whole milk as it arrives at the factory averages a total 
count of from about 100,000 to 1,000,000 bacteria per cc. Cream at 
gathered cream creameries contains from about 500,000 to 
500,000,000 bacteria per cc. before pasteurization and from about 
1,000 to 300,000 bacteria per cc. after pasteurization. Butter made 
from raw gathered cream usually contains from about 1,000,000 to 
2,000,000 bacteria per cc, and butter made from properly pasteur- 
ized gathered cream contains from about 2,000 to 1,000,000 bacteria 
per cc. In properly pasteurized cream butter the count of yeast and 
molds is usually below 10 and often it is 0. When above 10 colonies 
of yeast or mold or both, either the pasteurization was imperfect, 
or the butter was recontaminated after the pasteurization of the 
cream, or the count includes colonies which, though they may thrive 
in the special medium used for yeast and molds are other than yeast 
and molds. 



BacterioIwOGical Analyses 663 

Plating. — For plating the following media are recommended : 
Media for Total Counts and also for Acidifiers 
4 grams beef extract 
10 grams peptone 
30 grams lactose 
4 grams sodium chloride 
12 grams thread agar 
1000 cc. distilled water 
Acidity 0.1 per cent. 

For acidifiers add 1 cc. of sterile litmus solution to each plate 
before pouring the agar. 

Media for Liquefiers 

4 grams beef extract 
10 grams peptone 
30 grams lactose 

4 grams sodium chloride 
150 grams gelatin 
1000 cc. distilled water. 
Acidity 0.1 per cent. 

Media for Yeasts and Molds 
4 grams beef extract 
10 grams peptone 
12 grams agar 
1000 grams whey 

Acidity 0.2 per cent. 

Add 1 cc. of sterile 1 per cent tartaric acid solution to each plate 
before pouring the medium over the dilution. 

Incubation. — Incubate agar, litmus agar and whey agar plates 
at 35° C. (95° F.) for at least three days before making counts. 
Incubate gelatin plates at 21° C. (70° F.) for four to five days be- 
fore making counts. 

Making Counts. — The colonies on the plates are counted most 
conveniently by placing the plates over a standard counting plate. 
In the absence of such a plate, place the petri dish upside down on 
a dark surface and draw, with a blue crayon, radial lines, dividing 
the field into segments. For plates containing not to exceed 100 
colonies, eight to sixteen segments are sufficient for easy counting. 



664 



Atomic Weights 



Table 105. — International Atomic Weights 



Element 



Symbol 



Weight 
Atomic 



Element 



Symbol 



Weight 
Atomic 



Aluminum . . 
Antimony . . . 

Argon 

Arsenic 

Barium 

Bismuth . . . . 

Boron 

Bromine . . . . 
Cadmium . . . 

Caesium 

Calcium 

Carbon 

Cerium 

Chlorine 

Chromium . . 

Cobalt 

Columbium 

Copper 

Dysprosium . 

Erbium 

Europium . . . 

Fluorine 

Gadolinium . . 

Gallium 

Germanium . 
Glucinum . . , 

Gold 

Helium 

Holmium . . . 
Hydrogen . . 

Indium 

Iodine 

Iridium 

Iron 

Krypton 
Lanthanum 

Lead 

Lithium .... 
Lutecium . . . 
Magnesium 
Manganese . 
Mercury . . . 
Molybdenum 



Al 

Sb 

A 

As 

Ba 

Bi 

B 

Br 

Cd 

Cs 

Ca 

C 

Ce 

CI 

Cr 

Co 

Cb 

Cu 

Dy 

Er 

Eu 

F 

Gd 

Ga 

Ge 

Gl 

Au 

He 

Ho 

H 

In 

I 

Ir 

Fe 

Kr 

La 

Pb 

Li 

Lu 

Mg 

Mn 

Hg 

Mo 



27.10 

120.20 

39.88 

74.96 

137.37 

280.00 

11.00 

79.92 

112.40 

132.81 

40.07 

12.00 

140.25 

35.46 

52.00 

58.97 

93.50 

63.57 

162.50 

167.70 

152.00 

19.00 

157.30 

69.90 

72.50 

9.10 

197.20 

3.99 

163.5 

1.008 

114.80 

126.92 

193.10 

55.84 

82.92 

139.00 

207.10 

6.94 

174.00 

24.32 

54.93 

200.60 

96.00 



Neodymium 

Neon 

Nickel 

Niton (radium 
emanation) . . . . 

Nitrogen 

Oscium 

Oxygen 

Palladium 

Phosphorus 

Platinum 

Potassium 

Praseodymium . . 

Radium 

Rhodium 

Rubidium 

Ruthenium 

Samarium 

Scandium 

Selenium 

Silicon 

Silver 

Sodium 

Strontium 

Sulphur 

Tantalum 

Tellurium 

Terbium 

Thallium 

Thorium 

Thulium 

Tin 

Titanium 

Tungsten 

Uranum 

Vanadium 

Xenon 

Ytterbium (Neoyl 

lerbium) 

Ytterium 

Zinc 

Zirconium 



Nd 

Ne 
Ni 

Nt 

N 

Os 

O 

Pd 

P 

Pt 

K 

Pr 

Ra 

Rh 

Rb 

Ru 

Sa 

Sc 

Se 

Si 

Ag 

Na 

Sr 

S 

Ta 

Te 

Tb 

Tl 

Th 

Tm 

S'n 

Ti 

W 

U 

V 

Xe 

Yb 
Yt 
Zn 
Zr 



144.30 
20.20 
58.68 

222.40 

14.01 

190.90 

16.00 

106.70 

31.04 

195.20 

39.10 

140.60 

226.40 

102.90 

85.45 

101.70 

150.40 

44.10 

79.20 

28.30 

107.88 

23.00 

87.63 

32.07 

181.50 

127.50 

159.20 

204.00 

232.40 

168.50 

119.00 

48.10 

184.00 

238.50 

51.00 

130.20 

172.00 
89.00 
65.37 
90.60 



Metric and Customary Weights and Measures 665 



Table 106. — Comparison of Metric and Customary 
Weights and Measures 



Customary 

weights and 

measur/es. 



Equivalents in 
metric system. 



Metric 

weights and 

measures. 



Equivalents in 
customary system. 



1 inch 

1 foot 

1 square inch. . 

1 square foot. . 

1 cubic inch. . . 

1 cubic foot... 

1 fluid ounce. . 

1 quart 

1 gallon 

1 grain 

1 ounce (av.) . 

1 pound (av.) . 



2.54 centimeters. 

0.3048 meter. 

6.452 square centi- 
meters. 

9.29 square deci- 
meters. 

16.387 cubic centi- 
meters. 

0.0283 cubic meter. 

29.57 cubic centi- 
meters. 
0.9464 liter. 
3.7854 liters. 
64.8 milligrams. 
28.35 grams. 
0.4536 kilogram. 



1 meter 

1 meter 

1 square centi- 
meter. 

1 square met- 
er. 

1 cubic centi- 
meter. 

1 cubic centi- 
meter. 

1 cubic 
meter. 

1 liter 

1 dekaliter 

1 gram . . . 

1 gram . . . 

1 kilogram 



deci- 



39.37 inches. 
1.0936 yards. 
0.155 square inch. 

10.764 square feet. 

0.061 cubic inch. 

0.0338 fluid ounce. 

61.023 cubic inches. 

1.0567 quarts. 
2.6417 gallons. 
15.43 grains. 
0.035274 ounce. 
2.2046 pounds (av.) 



666 



The BuTTEjR Industry 



INDEX 



A 

Acid— » 

determination of 249, 593-600, 651 

effect on keeping quality of but- 
ter 231-233 

in butter 169, 220, 221, 549, 550 

in constituents of sour cream.... 169 

in cream 244, 278, 292 

Acid tests — 

of butter 651 

of cream 150, 593-601 

of milk 593-601 

degrees of 248, 600-601 

per cents of 248, 593-600 

Actual overrun 395 

Adsorption 269 

Advertisers 672-711 

Aerating cream 222-224 

Agitation in churn 293 

Annatto 301-303 

Annual butter production 26, 29,30 

Artificial ripening 235 

Ash, composition of 551, 558 

Atomic weights, table 664 

B 

Babcock test 21-23, 610-628 

Bacteria in butter 

. . . 183, 205, 213, 216, 217, 237, 560, 662 

Bacteria in cream 237, 562 

Bacteriological analyses 660-663 

Barny flavor 469 

Bath room in creamery 44 

Bichromate of potassium 128 

Biological properties of butter. . .569-573 

Bitter flavor 478, 479 

Bleached butter 517, 518 

Blowing cream 223-224 

Boxes 371, 374, 394 

"Breaking" of butter 271 

Brine salting 326 

Brittle body 505-507 

Broker 422 

Butter classification 435 

Butter color 300, 515 

Butter consumption 441 

Butter defects 466-530 

barny flavor 469 

bitter flavor 478, 479 

brittle body 505-507 

cheesy flavor 467 

coarse flavor 501 

cooked flavor 500, 501 



Butter defects — 

cowy flavor 469 

crumbly body 505-507 

curdy flavor 467 

dull color 518, 519 

feed flavors 61, 469, 470 

fishy flavor 456, 485-489 

flat flavor 466 

garlic flavor 61, 470, 472 

greasy body 503, 504 

green specks 528 

gritty body 514-515 

leaky body 511-514 

mealy body 507-511 

metallic flavor 456, 482-485 

moldy butter 366, 472-476 

mottled butter 519-525 

musty flavor 469 

oily flavor 479-482 

rancid flavor 494-498 

salvy body 504, 505 

scorched flavor 500-501 

smothered flavor 469 

sour aroma 467 

stale flavor 466 

storage flavor 456-493 

tallowy flavor 489-493 

too high color 516, 517 

too light color 517, 518 

unclean flavor 468 

wavy butter 519-525 

weak body 502, 503 

weed flavors 61, 470 

white specks 525 

wild onion flavor 61, 470-472 

woody flavor ZZ7, 499, 500 

yeasty flavor 476-478 

yellow specks 525-528 

Butter defects, valuation of 460 

Butter Exchanges 426 

Butter fat constants 538 

Butter fat, chemical properties 

278,280, 531, 532, 538 

Butter granules 270 

Butter industry, History 15-30 

influence of Babcock test on 21-23 

influence of centrifugal separator 

on 19-21 

Buttermilk 311, 557 

loss of fat in 402 

Butter quotations 428 

Butter rules. New York Mercantile 
Exchange 432 



The Butter Industry 



667 



Butter rules — 

Chicago Butter and Egg Board. . .435 

Butter scoring 459-466 

Butter standards, various countries. .576 

Butter workers 346 

Buying milk and cream 31-60 

c 

Can covers 145 

Can driers 145 

Can steamers 145 

Can washing 140 

at cream stations 145 

essentials of 143 

Can washers 141 

"Call," the 427 

Caloric value, of butter 568, 569 

of butterfat 568 

of curd 568 

Capacity of separator 88 

Care of milk and cream on farm.. 60-67 

Carotin 300 

Centrifugal force factor 72 

Centrifugal separation, theory of.... 71 

Cheesy flavor 467 

Chicago Butter and Egg Board. .426, 429 

Churn, kinds of 293 

preparation of 296 

Churnability of cream 277-295 

acidity of cream 272, 292 

agitation in churn 293 

chemical properties of fat 278,, 280 

churning temperature 278, 283 

fullness of churn 295 

richness of cream 278, 291 

speed of churn 294 

size of fat globules 279 

time of holding 278, 290 

viscosity of cream 278, 282 

Churning 266-310 

Churning difiiculties 307 

Churning — 

philosophy of 266 

temperature of 278-283 

Churn test 21 

Coal-tar dyes 301 

Coalescence of butter granules 501 

Coarse flavor 501 

Coefficient of digestibility of — 

animal fats 567 

butterfat 567 

vegetable fats 568 

Cold room, in creamery 43 

Commercial starters 252, 253, 259 

Commission merchant 422 

Commission sales 422, 424 



Composite samples 126 

Composition of, ash in butter 551 

ash in buttermilk 557 

ash in colostrum milk 553 

ash in cream 555 

ash in milk 553 

ash in separator slime 558 

ash in skimmilk 557 

ash in whey 553 

butter ."...".'536^551 

butterfat 531, 532 

butttermilk 557 

colostrum milk 553 

cream 175^ 555 

dairy products 530^558 

separator slime 558 

skimmilk 55^ 

whey '...'.'.'.'.'.'.558 

Curd 546 

Concentration points 58 

Condensed milk, for starter making. .261 

Construction of cream stations S3 

Construction of creameries 36-45 

Contents, table of 7-12 

Contract sales 424 

Cooked flavor 50(^501 

Cooling cream 65, 194, 206 

Corrosive sublimate tablets 128 

Cowy flavor 459 

Cream, age of 66 

Cream grading 118-125 

Cream cooling tanks 66 

Creamometer 21 

Cream outlet 77 

Cream ripening 225-251 

effect on flavor 226 

eflfect on exhaustiveness of churn- 
ing 229 

effect on keeping quality 230 

Cream routes 47 

Cream scales 138 

Cream samples 135 

Cream screw 77, 98, 104 

Cream stations 51 

Cream station operator 54 

Cream station shortages 54 

Cream transportation 67 

Creameries, distribution in U. S 29 

Creamery corporations 35 

Creamery organization 31 

Creamery promoter 24-26 

Crumbly body 505-507 

Cubes 371, 374, 394 

Curd 398, 546 

affinity for lime 165 

determination 650 

Curdy flavor 467 



668 



The; Butter Industry 



D 

Dairy butter, marketing of 417 

Damaged cans 145 

Deep-setting method 69, 70 

Definitions and standards 573, 577 

Delivered sales 422 

Digestibility of butter 566 

Direct shipper system 57 

Direct deliveries 46 

Disease germs, in butter 561 

Distribution of butter 439 

Drainage and drains 38 

Dry-salting 325 

Dull color 518-519 

"Dumping" milk and cream 138 

E 

Elgin Board of Trade 426, 428, 430 

Enameled vats 241, 263 

Enzymes 183, 213, 214 

Exports 442-445 

F 

Factory separators 80 

Farmers' co-operative associations... 56 
Farm separator creamery, overrun 

in 406, 411 

Fat globules 278, 279 

size of 535-537 

Fat-soluble A 569-573 

Fat standard of butter 574 

Fat tests, Babcock 611 

gravimetric 638 

Gerber 628-630 

Hepburn 634-638 

Kohman 639 

Shaw 639-644 

Feed flavors 61, 227, 469, 470 

Firkins 372 

Fishy flavor 209 

Flat flavor 466 

Flies in creameries 39, 41 

Floors in creameries 38 

Foamy cream 476, 478 

Food value, butter 566-569 

Fore warmers 139, 189 

Formaldehyde 128 

Freezing point, milk 552 

Frozen cream 133 

Fuel value, butter 568, 569 

Fulness of churn 295 

G 

Garlic flavor 61, 470 

Gas in churn 304 

Crades of butter 431 



Grades of cream 1 18-125 

Grading butter 435 

cream 1 18-125 

Greasy body 503, 504 

Green spots in butter 528-530 

Gritty body 514-515 

H 

Hand separators 82 

Health fulness of butter 559 

Heating creameries 45 

Holding process 196-207 

I 

Imports 442-447 

Independent cream buyer 55 

Insoluble fats 533 

Inspection, of butter 431 

Insulation of, ammonia pipes 45 

brine pipes 45 

cold room 43 

steam pipes 45 

water pipes 45 



Joint stock companies 33, 34 

Jobber 422 

K 

Kinds of starter 252 



Lactose 492, 548-550 

determination of 651 

Ladles 588 

Leaky body 511-514 

Legal standards by states 578-579 

Light, in creameries 39 

Lime, action in sour cream 172 

affinity for curd 172 

Lime carbonate 151 

hydrate 151 

oxide 151 

Lime mix 156, 157, 160, 163, 172, 179 

addition of to cream 172 

reaction in cream 167 

Location of creameries 36 

M 

Management, of patron 59 

Mammalian milks 554, 555 

Marketing and markets 412-447 

Market requirements 414 

Mealy butter 134, 139, 507-511 

Melting point of fats 533 

Metallic flavor 209, 456. 482-485 



Thr Buttkr Industry 



669 



Methyl orange indicator 152 

Milk, composition of 552 

separation of 68 

Milk sugar 548-550 

Minnesota law on neutralization. .. .575 

Moisture 396, 538 

Moisture content, affected by size of 

fat globules 537 

Moisture control 357, 538-545 

Moisture, effect on quality of butter. .545 

Moisture ruling 573 

Moisture tests 630-634 

accuracy of 404 

Mojonnier test 651-658 

Moldy butter 366, 472-476 

Mother starter 254-259 

Mottled butter 519-525 

Musty flavor 469 

Mutual co-operative creamery asso- 
ciations 2>2 

N 

Natural ripening 234 

Natural starters 252 

Navy butter, directions for packing.. 391 

Neutralization 148-180, 493 

object of 148 

composition of butter 177 

Neutralizing, directions 179, 180 

experiments 161-179 

formula 157 

tables 158-159 

New York Board of Health lacto- 
meter 603 

New York Mercantile Exchange.... 

426, 428, 429 

Non-volatile fats 533 

o 

Oiling systems 85 

Oil test 22 

Oily flavor 479-482 

Oleomargarine, detection of 659-660 

Overloading butterworkers 349 

Overr ipening 247 

Overrun 394-412 

accuracy of weights and tests . 399-407 

composition of butter 396 

mechanical losses 402 

actual 395 

theoretical 395 

P 

Package, consumers' 382 

Packing butter 364-394 

Packing cost 389 



Packing farm butter 383 

butter for exhibits 385 

butter for parcel post 384 

butter for scoring contests 385 

Packing, loss of moisture 387 

Packing in boxes 381 

Paraffining butter tubs 367-369 

Parchment liners and wrappers 369 

Phenolphthalein indicator 152, 250 

Physical structure of butter fat 535 

Power requirements 87 

Power separators 80 

Preservatives for milk and cream 

samples 128, 366 

Printers 377-37S 

Printing 377 

Prints 375 

Proportion of skim milk to cream... 77 

Proprietary creameries 34, 35 

Pasteurization 181-224 

effect on acidity of cream 221 

effect on body of butter 213 

effect on disease germs 183 

effect on exhaustiveness of churn- 
ing 218 

effect on flavor 181 

effect on keeping quality 182 

effect on score of butter 214 

flash process 196 

flash and holding process com- 
bined 207 

holding process 196 

object of 181 

temperature control 192, 207 

temperature recorders 194 

Pasteurizers, capacity 211 

cleaning of 208 

durabiUty 211 

expense of operation 212 

flash pasteurizers 185, 186 

vat pasteurizers 196 

Q 

Quevenne lactometer 602 

R 

Rancid flavor 494-498 

Receiving milk and cream 118 

Regenerative heaters 188 

Renovated butter 581-588 

Renovated butter, detection of... 659-660 

Retinning cans 147 

Retinning vats 209, 212, 263 

Rich cream 278, 291 

conditions affecting it 102-117 

Richness of milk 104 

Ripening cream 225-251 



670 



The Butter Industry 



Ripening temperatures 238-243 

Ripening vats 239-242 

Rusty cans 146 

s 

Salt 398, 514 

Ahlsberg process 332 

amount of 323 

composition of 547 

bacteria in 329 

chemical analyses ^^^ 

cr3^stals 327 

effect on disease germs in butter. .342 
effect on keeping quality of but- 
ter 338 

effect on moisture content of but- 
ter 343 

Grainer process 331 

physical properties of 334 

purity of 329 

quality of 329 

solubility of 335 

vacuum process 2^2 

Salted butter 530-551 

Salting butter 322-346 

Salt tests 644-650 

Hunziker and Hosman 647-650 

Kohman 645 

official method 645 

Perkins 646-647 

Sha-w 645-646 

Salvy butter 504, 505 

Sample j ars 126 

Sampling cream 130 

Sampling milk 125 

Scorched flavor 500-501 

Scoring starter 265 

Scoring butter 459-466 

Scores of butter 217 

Selling butter locally 418 

Separation of milk. 68 

Separator slime 558 

Sewerage disposal 36 

Shallow-pan method 69 

Single samples 126 

Skimmilk, composition 556 

loss of fat in 402 

outlet 76 

powder 261 

Skimming efficiency 90 

Smothered flavor 469 

Sodium carbonate 152 

hydrate 153-170 

Solidification 274-278 

Solidifying point of fats 274, 533 



Soluble fats 533 

Sour aroma in butter 467 

Specific gravity, determination. .601-608 

of butterfat 606 

of buttermilk 557 

of cream 555, 606, 607 

of milk 552, 554, 555, 606 

of skimmilk 556, 606 

of water 606 

o f whey 558 

Specific heat of — 

cream 555 

milk 552 

skimmilk 556 

whey 558 

Speculating in futures 425 

Speed of churn 294 

Speed of coils 203 

Stale flavor 466 

Standard Babcock glassware 611 

Standard cream scales 621 

Standard of acidity 149 

Standardizing cream for acid 148 

Standardizing milk and cream for 

fat 589-593 

Standardizing quality of butter 417 

Starters 251-265 

Starter, amount of 242, 265 

Starter ripening 250 

Starter vats 262 

Startoline 254 

State brands 417 

Sticky churns 299 

Stopping churn 304 

Storage 447-459 

Storage conditions 451 

air, light and heat 453 

humidity 453 

temperature 454 

Storage flavor 456-493 

Storage, effect on — 

quality of butter 456-459 

salt 337 

Storage, commercial stocks in 449 

Storage, shrinkage in weight 455 

Store room 42 

Straining cream 300 

Surface coil coolers 195 

Surface tension 268 



Tallowy flavor 209, 489-493 

Thickening of cream in churn 270 

Tins 372, 374 

cost of packing 390 

Tins for U. S. navy 392 



The Butter Industry 



671 



Total solids — 

determination of 608-610 

tables 609-610 

Track sales 423 

Transportation, co-operative 417 

Tubs 374, 394 

packing of 374 

paraffining 366 

preparation of 366 

u 

Unclean flavor 468 

Unsalted butter 530 

Ultra violet ray process 321 

V 

Vat pasteurization 196-207 

Ventilation 41-42 

Viscosity of cream 278-282 

Volatile fats 533 

w 

Water-dilution method 70 

Water droplets in butter 272, 521 

Water filters 320-322 

Waterhoiise test 660 

Washing butter 311-322 

Wash water — 

addition of 311 

effect on moisture in butter 315 

overchurning in wash water 315 

purity of 320 

temperature of .313 



Water supply 36 

Wavy butter 519-525 

Weak body 502, 503 

Weedy flavors 61, 470 

Weighing milk and cream 137 

Weights and measures, tables 665 

Weights of butter, accuracy of 404 

Wet-salting 326 

Whey butter 580, 581 

Whey butter, Wisconsin law 581 

Whey, composition 558 

White specks in butter 525 

Whole milk creamery, overrun in... 495 

Wholesale produce trade 421 

Wholesale receiver 422 

Wild onion flavor 61, 470, 472 

Woody flavor 337, 499, 500 

Working butter 346-363 

amount of 352 

eff^ect on body 353 

effect on color 353 

effect on flavor 360 

effect on keeping quality 360 

effect on moisture content 360 

X 

Xanthophyll 300 

Y 

Yeasty flavor 476-478 

Yellow A. B. and O. B 301 

Yellow specks 525-528 



672 The Butter Industry 



INDEX TO ADVERTISERS 



Page 

Allwood Sales Co., Milwaukee, Wis 674 

Associated Manufacturers' Co., Waterloo, la 673 

Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., Rochester, N. Y 674 

Boerner-Fry Company, Iowa City, la 675 

Buhl Stamping Co., Detroit, Mich 676 

D. H. Burrell & Co., Little Falls, N. Y dll 

J. G. Cherry Co., Cedar Rapids, la 678 

Colonial Salt Co., Akron, 689 

Creamery Package Mfg. Co., Chicago, III 679 

Davis- Watkins-Dairymen's Mfg. Co., Chicago, 111 681-2-3 

De Laval Separator Co., Chicago, 111 680 

Elyria Enameled Products Co., Elyria, 684 

Fairbanks, Morse & Co., Chicago, 111 685 

J. B. Ford Co., Wyandotte, Mich 686 

General Laboratories, Madison, Wis 687 

Geuder-Paeschke & Frey Co., Milwaukee, Wis 688 

Glass Coating Company, Cleveland, 689 

Chr. Hansen's Laboratory, Little Falls, N. Y 702 

Independent Silo Co., St. Paul, Minn 691 

Jalco Motor Company, Union City, Ind 690 

Jensen Creamery Machinery Co., L. I. C, New York 692-3 

Kalamazoo Vegetable Parchment Co., Kalamazoo, Mich 691 

Kelly Island Lime & Transport Co., Cleveland, 694 

King Ventilating Co., Owatonna, Minn 695 

Lathrop-Paulson Company, Chicago, 111 696 

Mojonnier Bros. Co., Chicago, 111 697 

Louis F. Nafis, Chicago, 111 698 

Paterson Parchment Paper Co., Passaic, N. J 694 

Peters Machinery Company, Chicago, 111 699 

Pfaudler Company, Rochester, N. Y 700-1 

Preservaline Mfg. Co., Brooklyn, N. Y 702 

Rice and Adams Corporation, Buffalo, N, Y 707 

Rock Island Plow Co., Rock Island, 111 703 

E. H. Sargent & Co., Chicago, 111 705 

L. C. Sharp Manufacturing Co., Plattsmouth, Neb 704 

Sharpies Separator Co., West Chester, Pa 706 

Sturges and Burn Mfg. Co., Chicago, 111 707 

C. J. Tagliabue Mfg. Co., Brooklyn. N. Y 708 

Toledo Scale Company, Toledo, 709 

Torsion Balance Co., New York 707 

Worcester Salt Co., New York 710 



Ill' I)1'TT1;r IXDISTKN' 



673 



THE" IOWA" 

CURVED DISC BOWL 



THE "IOWA" is different from all other centrifugal 
cream separators, because it is the only separator 
with a patented "Curved Disc" bowl. The con- 
struction of the "Curved Disc" Bowl enables the 
" IOWA" to extract all the butterfat from hot or cold 
milk under all farm conditions. The Babcock test 
proves that the "Curved Disc" Bowl is the world's 
closest skimming device. 




CREAM SEPARATOR 

OUTSKIMMED All Competing Separators. 

In the International skimming contests, made by the Jury of Dairy Experts at the 
last World's Fair, the "IOWA" Cream Separator OUTSKIMMED all competing 
separators. 

If you are interested in these skimming 
tests, send for catalogue, describing the 
"IOWA" with the patented "Curved Disc" 
Bowl. 

"IOWA" is not only the closest 
easiest 



skimming separator, but it is 
running and most durable. 

The gears used in the "IOWA" are a 
combination of the spur and spiral type, with 
the exceptionally low gear ratio of 7 to I.- 
The combination of these two types of gears 
produces a noiseless, perfectly smooth and 
easy running separator. 



Established 1898. Our twenty-two years of con- 
tinuous separator manufacturing experience enables 
us to produce the "IOWA"— the highest quality 
Cream Separator ever built. 

In our modern separator factory we have built 
complete, over a half million ( 500,000 i cream 
separators. 




"World's Best by Actual Test" 

Associated Manufacturers Co., Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.A. 



674 



Thf: Butter Industry 




MODEL FFS 8 



Bauscli'lomii 

Microscopes 

STANDARDS OF OPTICAL AND 
MECHANICAL EFFICIENCY 

Model FFS 8 is especially suitable for 
bacteriological work. Has coarse and 
fine focusing adjustments, with adjust- 
ment heads on side of arm; iris dia- 
phragm; three objectives — including oil 
immersion — in revolving nosepiece; two 
eyepieces and an Abbe condenser in 
quick-acting screw substage. Number of 
magnifications obtainable ranges from 
50 to 1260. Construction is rugged, and 
black crystal finish on arm and base 
unusually durable. 

W'rilefor catalog describing 
this and other models 

Bausch ^ Ipmb Optical (o. 

NEW YORK WASHINGTON SAN FRANCISCO 

CHICAGO ROCHESTER, N.Y. London 

Leading American Makers of 
Higti Grade Optical Products 



ALLWOOD 



Milkof Magnesia Lime 



The Perfect Neulralizer 




By the use of this material you are assured uniform, rehable 
and satisfactory neutralization. Its high standard of quality 
has been proven by continuous use in thousands of creameries. 
For further paiticulars, address, 

ALLWOOD SALES COMPANY 

iMILWAUKEE WISCONSIN 



Thiv Buttkr Industio' 



675 



GaDENGLOWBUHERCaOR 

PURELY VEGETABLE 



FOR the butter maker who is 
more than ordinarily particu- 
lar there is no sub^itute for 
the GOLDEN GLOW. 

A single trial of this, an old 
and standard color, will 
convince you of its excep- 
tional merit. 



Original orders of any 
~ size will be sent transpor- 
tation charges paid. The 
under^anding will be that if Golden 
Glow does not prove exadlly 
what you have always wished 
for in the way of a butter color 
it is to be returned at o.ur ex- 



On the primary points of 
quality and economy we invite 
comparison. 

It will be a pleasure on request to send a 
free sample for trial 




Quality 
and 

Economy 



BOERNER-FRY COMPANY 



I O^A^A C I T Y, I O VS/A 



676 



TiiK Buttkr TNniiSTRV 




The Butte;r Industry 677 



The "Simplex" Combined Churn 
and Butter Worker 

(Patented) 




No. 6 Cast Frame Type 
Showing Butter Worker in Position 



The only fully Automatic Combined Churn 

and Butter Worker. Churns the cream, works 

and delivers the Butter on tray ready to pack. 

Used in all Dairy Countries of the World. 

Also "SIMPLEX" Link Blade Cream Separa- 
tors and Milk Clarifiers, "SIMPLEX" Pas- 
teurizers, "SIMPLEX" Sanitary Milk Pumps, 
"FACILE" Babcock Testers and fuU hne of 
apparatus for Butter and Cheesemaking and 
handUng of milk. 



D. H. Burrell & Company 

Little FaUs, New York, U. S. A. 



Send for 
Special Circulars 



678 



The Butter Industry 




The Cedar Rapids manufacturing plant of the J. G. Cherry Company 

Everything in Equipment 

And Many Items of Current Supplies for the 
Modern Buttermaker 

The line of creamery machinery manufactured by 
the J. G. Cherry Company includes the well known 



Dreadnaught Churn 
Perfection Churn 
Haugdahl Starter Can 
Jensen Flash Pasteurizer 
Peerless Flash Pasteurizer 
Edwards Culture Can 



Cherry Ripener 
Simpson Printer 
Friday Printer 
Tubular Coolers 
Cherry Forewarmer 
Cherry Moisture Test 



Our Butterraakers catalog and Hand Book is a safe guide 
and ever-present help. Ask for it. 



J G. CHERRY COMPANY 



_ T AM A / 



t O ■WA -_ 



st.«"^"'- CE DA FSN^^ RAPIDS '^- 'u 

IOWA 



The Butter Industry 



679 



Caad Warkmen 




ALTHOUGH a good buttermaker can make good butter with almost 
any old churn, he can make much better butter with a modern, 
efficient machine. 
The Dual Combined Churn and Butterworker is constructed 
on the correct mechanical principle, and as a result most prize-winning 
butter is made in a Dual. 

The Dual works the butter evenly between the rolls. Other two roll 
machines do not have the proper spacing between the rolls. The one-roll 
churn never could properly work butter — it simply mashes it over the 
edge of a shelf. 

Headquarters for Dairy Equipment 

For thirty years we have been serving the dairy industry — have grown 
with it — and now have the most complete line of dairy machinery and 
supplies (consisting of over 5,000 different items,) in the world. 

\OVR INQUIRIES ARE EARNESTLY SOLICITED 

The Creamery Package Mfg. Company 

SALES BRANCHES: 

{Write to nearest one) 



CHICAGO, 61-67 W. Kinzie St. 
NEW YORK, 47 W. 34th St. 
SAN FRANCISCO, 699 Battery St. 
BUFFALO, 133-137 Swan St. 
OMAHA, 113-15-17 S. Tenth St. 



PHILADELPHIA, 1907 Market St. 



PORTLAND, ORE.. 6-8 N. Front St. 
MINNEAPOLIS, 318-320 Third St..N. 
TOLEDO, OHIO, 119 St. Clair St. 
WATERLOO, IOWA, 406 Sycamore St. 
KANSAS CITY, 931 W. Eighth St. 



yiUMiu 



nmniii ■iniiiiii 



680 The Butter Industry 



THE REASON FOR 



Lie Liaval Lieadership 

Every one who has given sound thought or considera- 
tion to the question, knows that the name DE LAVAL 
stands today — as it has since 1878 — for leadership in quality and 



There is always a good reason for every lasting success. 

Years of actual use in the hands of nearly three million 

users the world over have demonstrated beyond question the su- 
periority of the De Laval hand and factory size separators. They 
have met the requirements of every-day use in the best possible 
manner. 

Likewise, the other members of the De Laval family — 

the Clarifiers, Emulsors and special Centrifugal machines 

of various kinds, have been designed to meet the needs of their 
users in the most efficient way and for that reason each one of 
the line stands in the front rank in prestige and reputation. 

The reason for De Laval leadership is in service ren- 
dered. The De Laval machines work better, last longer, 

and produce the greatest possible returns for every dollar in- 
vested. 

There is a great deal of satisfaction, as well as extra 

profit, in owning and using the best machinery and equip- 
ment and there is no good reason w^hy any responsible farmer or 
creameryman or ice cream manufacturer should be satisfied with 
any other style of machine. 

Make up your mind to know the facts about the history 

and performance of the machines you are planning to 

buy. We covet the most rigid investigation and comparison — and 
wrill gladly leave the decision to your judgment. 

The De Laval Separator Co. 

165 Broadway, New York 29 E. Madison St., Chicago 

61 Beale St., San Francisco, Cal. 



The Butter Industry 



681 




Progress Can Washer 

WITH this machine in your plant you are enabled to furnish 
the producers with clean, sterile and dry milk cans. This 
service helps to lower your bacteria count to a minimum. 
Whether you wash a hundred or a thousand cans per day you will 
find this machine a profitable investment. It is practical. It 
occupies small floor space and uses very little power. It saves 
waste, time, labor and money. Write for information. 

DavisW^tkins Dairymen's Mfg.Co. 

ADDRESS NEAREST OFFICE 



JERSEY CITY. N. J. 

NORTH CHICAGO. ILL. 
ATLANTA. GA. 




DENVER COLO 

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. 
LOS ANGELES CALIF. 

SEATTLE WASH. 



682 



The Butter Industry 




Number 6 
Standard 
Disbrow 



A Wonderful Churn 

YOUR buttermaker is a success at his job if you give 
him the right tools to work with. He takes great 
pride in properly handling efficient machinery. 

He is just as proud of a pure-bred churn as you are of 
your pure-bred Jerseys, Holsteins, Packards or Pierce- 
Arrows. Don't you see how important it is that you give 
him a modern Disbrow ? 

It is just as essential to him as a good cook stove is to your wife. 
She can put up with almost anything else, but she must have a good 
stove. It's the thing her neighbors see and admire. It makes her 
kitchen livable. She turns out better food for your family by having 
it. She loves her kitchen because of it. 

The churn is the most important tool your buttermaker uses in 
his business of grinding out butter for you. On it depends the suc- 
cess of your creamery. Alongside of it all other tools are simply 
accessories. Write for a copy of "The Disbrow Churn Book." It is 
free, and there is no obligation. 

Davis-MS^tkins Dairymen's Mfg.Co. 

ADDRESS NEAREST OFFICE 



JERSEY CITY. N. J. 

NORTH CHICAGO. ILL. 
ATLANTA. GA. 




DENVER. COLO 

SAN FRANCISCO. CALIF. 
LOS ANGELES. CALIF 

SEATTLE. WASH. 



Thk Buttkr Industry 



683 




Minnetonna Cream Ripener 

A beautiful machine for the man who wants the right appearance, as 
well as efficiency. The two are combined in the Minnetonna 
Cream Ripener. Long experience has taught our workmen how 
to build this machine so it will give customer satisfaction and honest 
value for the money invested. 

The Minnetonna Cream Ripener pictured above is covered with white 
enameled sheets and tinned copper trimmings. The cover is tinned 
copper completely finished inside and outside. You can have yours for 
either motor or belt drive. This machine will add much to the at- 
tractiveness of your plant. 

If you prefer, you can purchase this same efficient cream ripener with 
a plain finished steel body. Some folks like the wood body Minnetonna 
Cream Ripener; you can have one of these, which of course do not cost 
as much money as the steel or enamel finished machines. As to capacity, 
we make many sizes from the small one holding 200 gallons up to those 
of 800 gallons. 

Write our nearest office for full information and prices. Tell us the 
size you are interested in. Your order will have our prompt attention. 
Let us have it quickly. 

Dams W^TKiNS Dairymen's Mfg.Co. 

ADDRESS NEAREST OFFICE 



JERSEY CITY. N.J. 

NORTH CHICAGO. ILL. 
ATLANTA. GA. 




DENVER COLO 

SAN FRANCISCO. CALIF. 
LOS ANGELES. CALIF. 

SEATTLE. WASH. 



684 



The Butter Industry 




View of Elyria tanks in the modern plant of the 
Stroh Products Company, Detroit, Mich. 

ELYRIA 

SEAMLESS, ONE-PIECE, GLASS -ENAMELED 
EQUIPMENT 

is rapidly coming to be the standard in all modernly 
equipped dairies and butter-making establishments. 
This is because it is 100 per cent, efficient. 

It has the permanence of steel and the cleanliness 
and sanitation of glass. Without the semblance of 
crevice or seam for the lodgment of bacteria, with an 
inside surface of hard, glossy, deep-blue enamel that 
is as easy to clean as a china bowl, Elyria Equipment is 
the safest with which to take care of milk and milk 
products, enabling the Buttermaker to do his work 
with certainty of economy and absolute sanitation. 

The Elyria Company is prepared to show that the 
installation of Elyria-Equipment will, in a compara- 
tively short time, save more than the original cost of 
the investment. 

We shall be glad to send complete literature to any 
one engaged in the Buttermaking Industry. 



The Elyria Enameled Products Co. 



ELYRIA, OHIO, U. S. A. 



New York 



Chicago 



Pittsburgh 



Los Angeles 



San Francisco 



The Butter Industry 



685 




Fairbanks 

No. 10105 
Receiving Scale 



Has Full Capacity Beam 
and Tare Bar 


Marked: 

Upper Bar 200 lbs. 
Main Bar 400 lbs. 
Lower Bar 100 lbs. 


X 1 lb. 
X 100 lbs. 

xy2 lb. 




Suspended 
Platform 



Fairbanks, Morse & Co. 

900 So. Wabash Ave. 

CHICAGO 




686 



The Butter Industry 



Facts Mold Opinions 

IN EVERY walk of life opinions are 
fashioned by facts. Horseless vehicles 
were deemed unlikely until the automobile 
came into existence and what was even 
more recent, much improved cleaners for use 
in dairies, butter and cheese factories were 
considered impossible until 

'^ -'^ 'dairyman's -^ 



became a tact. 

Today the rapidly increasing use of this 
cleaner and the wide recognition awarded 
it by leading authorities in every depart- 
ment of dairying and its allied industries 
plainly suggests how much it will profit 

you, provided you utilize 

these facts. 

Wherever the facts concern- 
ing Wyandotte Dairyman's 
Cleaner and Cleanser are 
known the opinion is the same 
— it cleans clean. 

ORDER FROM YOUR SUPPLY HOUSE 




The J. B. Ford Co., Sole Mnfrs., Wyandotte, Mich. 



The Butter Industry 68/ 




For Sterilizing 



THE control of bacteria during every step in the 
handling of dairy products — beginning at the cow 
and ending with the consumer — is of such import- 
ance that easy means of accomplishing it must be within 
the reach of everyone engaged in handling such products. 

B-K provides a sterilizer effective in the hands of any 
butter-maker, cheese maker, or dairy farmer. It is easy 
to use^ — does its work quickly — at a low operating cost — 
requiring no extra labor or equipment for its application. 

In addition it is economical in actual use and produces a 
degree of cleanliness not to be obtained without it. 

B-K provides bacteria control in all kinds of equipment. 
Being liquid, it flows over and into every spot and corner 
that milk or cream will touch. As the B-K rinse flows 
through the equipment it dissolves bacteria and casein 
sediment alike, leaving a condition of cleanliness difficult 
to obtain by any other method. 

Our Laboratories and Service Department have given 
expert service to B-K users for years. We have had a 
large experience in the field, under practical conditions, 
and are prepared to give help in bacteria control to all 
who need it. 

Write us for information and free bulletins. 



General Laboratories 

110 So. Dickinson Street 
Madison, Wisconsin 



688 



The Butter Industry 



^ai^.^ Sanitary MilkCans 

WILL SERVE YOU LONC AND WELL 




The Butter Industry 689 

How To Prevent Streaks and 
Mottles in Butter 

Prof. Hunziker asserts that streaks and mottles in butter are 
caused by: 

(1) — Incomplete fusion of salt and water in butter. 

(2) — Faulty mechanical condition of the butter workers. 

(3) — Overloading of the machine. 

Not one of these causes but what may be overcome by any 
buttermaker who takes pride in his product. With Colonial Salt 
the buttermaker will never be troubled with incomplete fusion. 
The other two causes are mechanical and can be easily remedied. 
Flake salt dissolves quicker than cube salt of the same size grain. 
Colonial salt is the only all flaked Butter Salt on the market. It 
will produce over-run, color, flavor and body. Try it in your next 
batch of butter. the salt that melts like snow 

FLAKES AND DISSOLVES LIKE MIST 

THE COLONIAL SALT CO. 

AKRON, OHIO 

CHICAGO BOSTON ATLANTA BUFFALO 



GLASCOTE 

SEAMLESS. GLASS - COATED. STEEL EQUIPMENT 
FOR THE^BUTTER INDUSTRY 

GLASCOTE equipment being seamless, and coated 
inside with pure white glass, enforces cleanliness 
and prevents metallic flavors. 

CREAM RIPENING, PASTEURIZING AND 
PROCESSING TANKS, STARTER CANS, 
STORAGE TANKS, ETC., 

complete in every detail and most efficient. They 
save floor space and labor and handle your product 
in the most sanitary, efficient and attractive manner 
possible. 

WRITE FOR MILK PRODUCTS BULLETIN 

The Glass Coating Company 

New York — Chicago — San Francisco CLEVELAND, OHIO 



690 



The Butter Industry 



The Why of the Jalco — 

Brought up in a 
creamery, the Jalco 
is an investment in 
which you, as a 
member of the same 
guild as its designer, 
can place the utmost 
confidence. 




The JALCO 

IS SOLD 

AND RECOMMENDED 

BY: 

A. H. Arnold & Bro. 

J. G. Cherry Company 

A. H, Barber Creamery Supply Co. 

Blanke Mfg:. & Supply Co. 

Riley Hauk Supply Co. 

Hawkeye Supply Co. 

The Creamery Packagre Mfg. 

Company 
Davis- Watkins Dairymen's Mfg. Co. 
Bessire & Company 
N. A. Kennedy Supply Co. 
John W. Ladd Company 
Owatonna Creamery Supply Co. 
Crary Brokerage Company 
J. S. Biesecker 
E. B. Adams Company 
The Central Ohio Supply Co. 
Cherry-Bassett Company 
The Dairy Supply Co. 

Dairymen's Supply & Construction 
Co. 

E. F. Mangold Company 

Standard Milk Machinery Co. 

West-Hutchison Company 

Wisner Manufacturing Company 

W. T. Connelley 

K. J. Madden 

E. A. Kaestner 



The Jalco is built to 
Ht your current; designed 
for cream and milk testing 
exclusively and carries a 
guarantee that means real 
machinery devotion. 

No gears, no rheostats 
or starting boxes and no 
hand brakes; just genuine 
died - in - the - aluminum 
quality. 

A postal card brings the 
information you need from 
any of the supply houses 
listed on this page or 
direct from: 



THE JAICO MOTOR COMPANX 

UNION CITV. INDIAJJA. 



The: Butter Industry 



691 



Better Cream — Better Prices 

CREAMERY MEN EVERYWHERE WILL 
WELCOME THE WONDERFULLY 
EFFECTIVE NEW 

Sanitary Cream Cooler 

CREAM, when first separated, is at 
its highest value to the butter- 
maker. Help your creamery 
patrons to realize the most for their 
produce and at the same time make 
more for yourself by being sure the 
cream is cooled directly after milking. 
The Sanitary Cream Cooler makes this 
possible. 

Creamery managers can well afford 
to send out coolers, paying for them in 
the increased price of sweet cream, 

WRITE FOR PLAN. DESCRIPTION 
AND QUANTITY PRICES 

INDEPENDENT SILO CO., St. Paul, Minn. 

MANUFACTURERS OF 

Cream and Milk Coolers, Milking Machines, Silos and Tanks 





The World's Model Paper Mill 

■ special Papers _ 



Best Brand Pure Vegetable Parch- 
ment Paper. 

The paper that is better moist than dry. 
Toughens up like a bladder when wet. Made 
under sanitary conditions for the absolute purity 
a paper used in wrapping butter must have. 
Used to line butter tubs, for lard bags, as carton 
linings, to protect from contamination. Manu- 
factured in rolls or cut in regular butter sizes, 
plain or printed, as well as many special sizes to 
order. Send for samples. 



Pure KVP Waxed Paper 

Used in great quantities for carton sealers and 
bread wrappers. Made in many colors, in rolls 
or cut sizes, plain or printed. Send for samples. 

The New KVP Bond 

A multi-purpose bond that takes half-tone cuts 
in great style I Low Cost. High Quality. Made 
in all bond weights and a line of colors and 
white. Samples ready. 



KALAMAZOO VEGETABLE PARCHMENT COMPANY 

KALAMAZOO. MICHIGAN 



692 



The Butter Industry 



Vertical - Universal 
and Ripener 



Pasteurizer 



COIL oh he Tcrtical 
type and entirely sus- 
pended; shaft of heavy 
seamless brass; tubing 
of 2 - inch 16 gauge 
copper; Twin Coil. 

UNIFORM tempera- 
ture throughout vat 
during heating or cool- 
ing. 

INSULATION— 15^- 
inch and 2-inch Cork 
Board, depending on 
size of machine. 

COVERS — Overlap 
style with pian o 
hinges. 




PACKING BOXES— 
entirely eliminated 
from the vat and lo- 
cated above and out- 
side the vat. 

ELIMINATES AIR 
FROM PRODUCT— 
It is constantly worked 
out by the helical coiL 
Oxidation reduced. 

FLOOR SPACE— 
One-half that of hori- 
zontal. 

POWER — Motor or 
Belt 3^ to ^ that re- 
quired for horizontals 



Increase your efficiency of Pasteurization and Ripening, by using this machine. It is the Only 
Real Glass-Lined Pasteurizer or Copper Vat Pasteurizer equipped with a double twin 
Helical coil but Without Packing Boxes in the ends of the vat. Why suffer with mold, yeast and 
bacterial reconiamination when it can be entirely overcome by using this Vertical-Universal ? 

Reduce oxidation in your product by clarifying it of gas and air. The vertical twin or double coil con- 
stantly working from the bottom up, wrings the air and gas out. A longer-keeping product results. 

JENSEN VERTICAL CONDENSED MILK COOLER 



Eliminate 
Crystallization 

Furnish correct 
amount of agi- 
tation to pro- 
duce a smooth 
product. 

Eliminate air 
and g as ses 
through Rota- 
tion of Double 
Helical Coil 
during cooling 
process. 




Prevent 
Contamination 

As all packing 
and stuffing 
boxes are out- 
side and above 
the machine. 

Specially Built 
for Cooling 

Condensed and 

Evaporated 

Milk. 



Ask for Catalogue 
No. 20-A. 



JENSEN CREAMERY MACHINERY COMPANY 

LONG ISLAND CITY. N. Y. southern d.str.butors: OAKLAND. CALIFORNIA 

BLANKE MFG. & SUPPUY CO., ST. LOUIS, MO. 



The Butter Industry 



693 



Pasteurizing Unit 

CONTINUOUS 

SANITARY 




Eliminate 
Seconds 



Send for Catalogue No. 24-A 
WRITE AND LET US TELL YOU HOW IT IS DONE 

Jensen Pumps 




ONLY TWO 

PARTS 

TO 

TAKE DOWN 

AND 
RE-ASSEMBLE 

WHEN 
CLEANING 

STANDARD U BASE 
Send for Catalogue No. 21 

JENSEN CREAMERY MACHINERY COMPANY 

LONG ISLAND CITY. N. Y southern distributors, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 

BLANKE MFG. & SUPPLY CO.. ST. LOUIS. Mo. 



694 The Butter Industry 

CORRECT NEUTRALIZATION 

of sour cream is an important part of the 
process of modern butter- making. And 
the choice and use of the right kind of 
neutraHzer is equally essential. Our 

Special Dairy Lime 

T^he Ideal Cream NeutraHzer 

is a lime of the highest quality and has 
been found the best available and most 
suitable for this purpose. 

Ask for prices — address "Industrial Dept. " 

The Kelley Island Lime & Transport Co. 

World' s Largest Producer of Lime and Limsetone Products 
11 ACTIVE PLANTS NEAR PRINCIPAL CENTERS 

General Offices : Cleveland 



As Necessary As Salt 

Make good butter — 
Protect its goodness — 
Put your brand on it — 

Get your butter to the consumer'as fresh, pure 
and clean as when it leaves'Jyour churn. 
Protect it from dust and dirt by wrapping it in 

PATERSON PIONEER 
PARCHMENT PAPER 

and put your name on the parchment. That 
will mean a bigger demand for your butter and 
higher prices. 

WRITE FOR FREE BOOK "BETTER BUTTER" 
EVERY DAIRYMAN SHOULD READ IT 

The Paterson Parchment Paper Co. 

Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.A. 



The Butter Industry 



695 



Get Rid of Excessive 
Moisture in Your Creamery 

Is your creamery wet? Does steam con- 
dense on the walls and water drip from the 
ceiling? Poor ventilation is the cause. 

The King System of Ventilation will change 
the air in your creamery every few min- 
utes and carry off the moisture. Your 
creamery is kept sanitary, preserving your 
equipment and the health of your butter 
makers. Lengthens the life of your build- 
ing. Makes the creamery more attractive. 

Send for Our Book 
on Creainery Ventilation 

This book explains the King: System— what it is— 
why you need it— how we put it in— what it will save 
you. Kirgr Engineers study each creamery before 
planning a system. When you order a King: System 
we assume a responsibility which does not cease 
until your creamery is properly ventilated. 

King Ventilating Co. 

1219 Cedar St. Owatonna, Minn. 

On the Jefferson Highway 
Venl'.lat'me Engineers for Creameries and Farm Buildings 

KING 




This shows the way the King Sys- 
tem carries out excessive moisture 
through Aerator on the roc f . 




System of 
Ventilation 



696 



The Butter Industry 



The Lathrop. Paulson Company has 
Perfected a New Type Can Washer of 
Super -Success. No Waste, Less Work, 
Bigger and Better Results. 

This New L-P Entirely Automatic Machine has Capacity up to 700 Cans 
and Covers per hour. Practical and efficient in every way. Embodies all 
the features of our former machines with double their efficiencyi at less cost. 




Aug. 20, 

Aug. 20, 

Sept. 14, 

Feb. 22, 

Dec. 4. 



1907 864,131 

1907 864,133 

1909 934,404 

1916 1,172,808 

1917 1,249,129 



Apr. 
Sept 



4. 



1916 168,585 

1919 192,648 



U. S. PATENTS 

Jan. 8, 1918 1,252.453 

Apr. 16, 1918 1,262,679 

Aug. 20, 1907 864,132 

Mar. 3, 1908 880,713 

Feb. 15, 1910 949,121 

CANADIAN PATENTS 

Nov. 11, 1919 193,886 

Sept. 9. 1919 192,647 



Nov. 27, 1917 1,247.692 

Dec. 4, 1917 1,249,130 

Feb. 12, 1918 1,255,896 

Dec. 31, 1918 1,289.824 



Nov. 
Nov. 



Other U. S. and Foreign Patents Pending 



11, 1919 193.885 

25, 1919 194,208 



NOTABLE IMPROVED FEATURES: 

STEAM sterilization under complete con- 
trol, any amount you desire. 

Operating at the rate of 700 cans and covers 
per hour. EACH and EVERY CAN re- 
ceives THREE to FIVE minutei of bac- 
teria-destroying sterilization. 

Insures Clean, Dry, Sterile receptacles for 
the conveyance of product from producer to 
manufacturer at lowest possible cost. 

Machines have the unique feature of handling cans 
as fast or as slow as desired, depending solely on 
the speed they are fed to machine, and cannot be 
crowded beyond capacity. 



Does not require even one man to operate. 
Machines are END FED, most convenient for 

disposal of can by milk dumper. 
Driven by motor or steam turbine of less 

than one and one-half horse power. 
Less than one-quarter horse-power consumed 

in automatic machine drive. 
Water consumption cut seventy-five per cent. 
Drying capacity DOUBLED. Fan delivering 1800 

cubic feet of dry, sterile, super-heated 

air per minute. 
WARM SODA SOLUTION WASH— under 

pressure of 80 to 100 pounds. 
CLEAR SCALDING WATER WASH immedi- 



ately following under pressure of 80 to 100 

pounds. 

THE LATHROP -PAULSON COMPANY are MILK 
CAN WASHING MACHINE SPECIALISTS and 
SOLICIT YOUR INQUIRIES and REQUIREMENTS 

THE LATHROP- PAULSON COMPANY 

2459 WEST 48TH STREET CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 



• The; Butter Industry 



697 




The Mojonnier Culture Controller 

is used for the continual propagation and control of 
pure Lactic Cultures and other bacteriological work. 
Made in several sizes, — compartments of a few 
quarts capacity to the larger size holding four two- 
gallon cans for large dairies in two and three com- 
partment models. 

The Mojonnier Composite Sample Bottle 

with pure Para rubber stopper fastened to bottle 
by non-kinkable chain. Sold either 4-oz., 8-oz. or 
16-oz. sizes. 

Other specialties for butter-makers and 
dairies being developed, including a new 
tjrpe butter print scale. 

A model for every requirement. Write for literature. 

MILK ENGINEERS 

739 W. cJev.cJ<son Boul. Chicz>.6o 

Branch OfEces — New York, St. Louis, and San Francisco 



698 



Th^ Butter Industry 



Nafis Creamery Glassware 



WILL HELP TOWARD 
HIGHEST EFFICIENCY 
IN YOUR TESTING ROOM 

It Is made according to scientific methods 
and is guaranteed to be Accurate and to 
give Excellent Service. 





IMPROVED 
BUTTER TEST 

BOTTLE 

for determining 

percentage of 

butter fat in 

butter 



Pat. Aug. i8, 1918 

Nafis Standard Butter Color Rod 

contains four standard shades of yellow for matching the 
color of butter for various markets. Based upon the color 
formula of the U. S. Bureau of Standards. Approved by butter 
experts. 

There is a tremendous weight 
in the fact that NAFIS 
GLASSWARE is used by most 
of the largest creameries in the 
country, but the strongest 
proof for you is 
the proof of your g 
own experience. 



If your dealer 
cannot supply 
you with 

Nafis 
Glassware 

write for our 
illustrate d 
catalogue and 
list of our dis- 
tributors. 




Nafis 

Automatic 

Acidity 

and 

Salt Testing 

Outfits 



LOUIS F. NAFIS, Inc. 

MANUFACTURERS OF CREAMERY GLASSWARE 

542-548 Washington Blvd. CHICAGO 



The Butter Industry 699 



Peters Automatic 
Package Machinery 




COMPLETE line of machinery 
which automatically (i) forms, (2) 
lines, (3) fills, (4) folds, (5) closes, 
(6) wraps, (7) labels, (8) seals pack- 
ages of food products, or performs 
any part of these operations independently. 

This ingenious, compact machinery 
effects material economies in labor, time, 
and floor space. 

Further, it places packages of food 
products in the hands of consumers in sub- 
stantially the same condition in which they 
left the producer. 

For years it has been used success- 
fully by foremost food manufacturers. 



Peters Machinery Company 

209 South La Salle Street 
CHICAGO 



700 



The Butter Industry 



Pfaudler 

Glass 

Enameled 

Cream 

Ripener 




Pfaudler Cream Ripener 



Prevents Metallic and other 
"OflF Flavors" by providing an 
absolutely sterile, Glass Lined, 
container. Provides a method of 
heating that is well distributed, 
and readily responsive to the will 
of the operator. Avoids "pockets" 
where filth can collect. Is so 
easily "get-at-a-ble" that the 
cleaning operation can be safely 
intrusted to cheap labor. 

The Method of Heating 

The jacket is filled with water 
and an extra pipe attached for 
use as an expansion chamber. 
Steam is injected into the water 
through the Steam Spreader 
shown in the sketch. The Jacket 
is provided with a thermometer 



and the temperature of the water 
may be regulated at will. 

Specifications 

Capacity, 250 gallons. It may, 
however, be had in any suitable 
size and in different widths and 
heights. Brass agitator either 
tinned or silver plated, mounted 
in an oil-less bearing. Copper 
cover. Tight and loose pulley. 

Prices on application. 

INNER TANK WALL 




WAIL Of JACKET 
I OUTLET 



Showin.^ How Water In Jackel 
Is Heated By Steanx 



Just Printed, "Pfaudler Dairy Equipment " 
Write for your copy 

The PFAUDLER Co. 



ROCHESTER, N. Y. 



NEW YORK 



DETROIT 



ST. LOUIS 



CHICAGO 

SAN FRANCISCO 



The Butter Industry 



701 




Pfaudler 

Glass 

Enameled 

Cream 

Vat 



Mr. Hunziker recently said : 

"It has been conclusively de- There is only one substitute for 

monstrated experimentally by the a copper vat that is better than 

United States Dairy Division and it and that is the glass-enameled 

by the writer, and it has been vat Glass-enameled equip- 

proven in the manufacture of ment is the coming equipment for 

millions upon millions of pounds the creamery." 
of butter by the writer, that ex- 
cessive exposure of the milk. The Illustration 
cream or butter to iron or cop- ™, ^.i- ji ^i t- ■ i 

per causes chemical action, which „ The Pfaudler Glass Enameled 

11^ . <■ . J ^ Keceivmg Vat shown is six leet 

leads to most disastrous and cost- , ^i r •■ , ■ 

ly butter defects The long, three feet wide, two and a 

only really satisfactory material ^.'^/""* ^^""P' ^"J ^^f fr T 

f / *u^ ^4... „♦: „ „< 4:„,„ height of three and a half feet. 

tor the construction or tore- <^ -^ ,^r> n 

J ^ • ^u Capacity 300 gallons, 

warmers and cream vats, is the f j & 

glass-enameled type Cop- it may, however, be had in 

per vats such as have been in other sizes and capacities and 

use in the past and are still in ^ay be equipped with an agitator, 
use, have been found damaging 

to the quality of butter Prices on application. 

Just Printed, "Pfaudler Dairy Equipment " 
Write for your copy 

The PFAUDLER Co. 

ROCHESTER, N. Y. 

NEW YORK CHICAGO 

DETROIT ST. LOUIS SAN FRANCISCO 



702 



The Butter Industry 



Hansen's Lactic Ferment Culture 
and Danish Butter Color 

ARE USED ALL OVER THE WORLD WHERE THE FINEST BUTTER IS MADE. 

Rennet Extract and liquid Cheese Color for factory use. 

Rennet Tablets and Cheese Color Tablets for cheese making on the farm. 

Junket Tablets for Cottage Cheese in every home. 

CHR. HANSEN'S LABORATORY, Inc., Little Falls, N. Y. 

BRANCHES at Milwaukee. Wis. and Philadelphia, Pa. 
FACTORIEIS also at Copenhagen. Denmark; Reading, England, and Toronto, Canada. 



PERFECTION 

BRAND 

BUTTER COLOR 

PURELY VEGETABLE 
A TOP NOTCH BUTTER COLOR 

MADE BY 

The Preservaline Mfg. Co., Brpoklyn, New York 




Rice & Adams Hydraulic Can Washer 

Produces clean, dry, sterile cans. Cleanses the inside, outside and 
cover in one operation, leaving the can immaculately clean. No 
more sour milk trouble when the R & A Hydraulic is used. 

SEND FOR THE R 6- A CATALOG 

RICE & ADAMS, INC. 

166-182 Chandler Street Buffalo, New York 



The Butter Industry 



703 



Great Western 
Cream Separator 



Here is the cream separator 
that has proved itself a profit 
maker for 15 years. That's be- 
cause it gets all the cream from 
every skimming, day after day — 
w^eek after week. 

With the Great Western the milk just 
naturally runs down hill and out the bottom 
outlet of the bowl, while the cream, being 
lighter, comes to the top and goes out the 
top outlet. The bottom outlet bowl sepa- 
rates the cream from the milk just as 
Nature does — and the Great Western is 
the only disc bowl machine with 
this desirable bottom outlet bowl 
feature. 

Correct Oiling System 
Low Upkeep 

The big expense on most separators is for 
new bearings caused by the milk getting in 
with the oil, thinning out the oil and thus 
eating out the bearings. On the Great 
Western the bottom outlet bowl 
gives the milk a straight down- 
ward course. It never runs over 
and down the sides into the 
spindle bearings of the pan base. 

The Great Western is made in 
six sizes, ranging from 300 to 900 
lbs. capacity per hour. 




Great Western equipped 
with electric motor 



WRITE TODAY FOR COMPLETE DETAILS 
AND LARGE ILLUSTRATED GREAT 
WESTERN CATALOG. 

Rock Island Plow Company 

Factory and General Offices .. Rock Island, Illinois 

BRANCHES: 
Sioux Falls Minneapolis Indianapolis Omaha Kansas City Oklahoma City Dallas 



704 



The Butter Industry 



THERE IS A BEST IN EVERYTHING 




Miller^s Hydraulic Cutter 

ESPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR CUTTING CONGEALED 
MATERIAL SUCH AS BUTTER. OLEOMARGARINE, 
SOAP. VEGETABLE OIL PRODUCTS. ETC.. ETC. 




SOLE MANUFACTURERS 

L C. Sharp Manufacturing Company 

Plattsmouth, Nebraska, U. S. A. 



The Butter Industry 



705 



Our Stock of Chemicals and Chemical 
Apparatus for the Butter and Milk 
Laboratory is Very Complete 



AMONG OTHER THINGS 
WE CAN SUPPLY 
PROMPTLY:— 

Autoclavs 
Counting Plates 
Petrie Dishes 
Staining Dishes 
Incubators for Gas 
Electric Incubators 
Cover Glasses and Slides 
Electric Moisture Ovens 
Balance and Weights 
Microscopes 
Aluminum Dishes 
Babcock Milk Testers 
Etc. 




Correspondence solicited 

Catalogue on request 

We will be glad to quote on your 
laboratory requirements 



E. H. Sargent & Co. 

IMPORTERS, MAKERS AND DEALERS 
IN CHEMICALS AND CHEMICAL 
APPARATUS OF HIGH GRADE ONLY 

1 55- 165 E. Superior Street Chicago, Illinois 



706 



The Butter Industry 




Mr. P. M. Sharpies invented and perfected the first 
American separator nearly forty years ago. Sharpies 
machines today are manufactured in the oldest and 
largest separator factories in America and are the 
standard machines throughout the world. 

Sharpies machines are 100% American: Owned by 
Americans, manufactured by Americans, built by Ameri- 
can labor of American material and preferred by 
Americans. 



Send for special catalogs on any of these machines in 
which you may be interested: Sharpies Suction-feed 
Cream Separator; Sharpies Factory Milk Separator; 
Sharpies Whey Separator; Sharpies Super -Clarifier 
and Sharpies Elmulsifier. 

The Sharpies Separator Co. 

WEST CHESTER, PA. 



BRANCHES: 



CHICAGO SAN FRANCISCO TORONTO 



The Butter Industry 



707 






Fo r Sanitar y Service Use 



turd'es 



III: .1 



They are easy to clean and keep clean. 
The most sanitary, and the most econom- 
ically operated milk plants use them ex 
clusively. 

They are made of liigliest quality steel plate, 
tinned and retinned. All seams are soldered 
on the inside — perfectly smooth. No crev- 
ices for milk particles to lodge in and sour. 
You should see our extra heavy seamless 
rim cover. 

Send for Catalog No. 111. 

Sturges & Burn Mfg. Co. 

508 South Green Street 

Chicago, 111. 



.i 



TORSION BALANCE SCALES 

THE ACCEPTED STANDARD FOR BUTTER MAKERS 



Rapid- Sensitive- Accurate 

No. 1700— Moisture Test Scale. 

Extensively used for moisture 
in butter. Percentage of 
moisture (! / lOfr to 30%) 
read direct from the beams 
without calculation. 

Thousands in daily use. 

CREAM TEST SCALES 

BUTTER PRINT SCALES 

Christian Becker Analytical 

Balances for Chemical 

Laboratories. 




^ 



/ 



TORSION BALANCE COMPANY 

Factory— Jersey City, N. J. Main Office— 92 Reade St., New York, N. Y. 

BRANCHES— 31 West Lake St., Chicago, III.; 49 California St., San Francisco, Cat. 



708 



The Butter Industry 



An Au+OTDfSi+ic Sys+eYn oj 
Temperd+ure Con+rol 




O 

PASTEURIZER 



Typical application oj a TAG Perfect 
Automatic Temperature Controller and 
Recording Thermometer attached to a 
flash pasteurizer — both of which are «- 
sential for efficient and economical 
pasteurizing. 



Simple--Efficient--Self -Paying 

Improvement of flavor and keeping quality are the two 

principal advantages of efficient pasteurization but — efficient pasteurization 
can only be achieved by constantly maintaining a UNIFORM temperature 
within the pasteurizers. 

TAG Perfect Temperature Controllers offer a simple and 
efficient solution because they automatically maintain the exact temperature 
required — and are self-paying because they not only conserve considerable 
labor and steam, but also improve the flavor and keeping quality of the butter. 

TAG Recording Thermometers assure uniformity of results 
because they accurately record every temperature operation, day or night, 
thereby promoting efficiency among 
the workmen in their efforts to pro- 
duce praiseworthy charts. 



Catalogs H-425 and H-345 
will provide further informa- 
tion of interest and value. 



m 



IIABUE 



MFG.Cdl 

TEMPERATURE ENGINEERS 
18-68 ThirJy-Thiitl SI. Brooklyn.N.Y. 



[^?s?s] ^Sj^s^s ?s^®]?s ^s^s^si ?@G]?s?®][i] 



Tni': l-)rTTi;K Inmiustrv 



709 



Precise Weights in 

Packing 
Butter 



•yHE Toledo 
^ Predetermined 
Weight Scale for 
use in packing 
butter in tubs is 
especially de- 
signed to prevent 
both underweight 
and over -allow- 
ance for shrink- 
age. In other 
processes of weighing in the dairy, other types of Toledo 
Springless Automatic Scales also render rapid, accurate 
and efficient service. 



WRITE FOR INFORMATION 

Toledo Scale Company 

Toledo, Ohio 

Canadian Factory: Windsor, Ontario 

BRANCH OFFICES AND SERVICE STATIONS 
in sixty-nine cities in the United States. 

Others in thirty-four foreign countries. 




Largest 
Automatic 
Scales 
Manu- 
facturers 
in the 
World 



10 1'riK BuTTKk Indivstrv 



Ask 

Yourself 

Th 

Q 



Will not fine salt dissolve more 
quickly than coarse salt? 



Will not the fine salt which dis- 
solves the quickest distribute 
the most evenly? 

CoC I Will not the fine salt which dis- 

solves the quickest and dis- 
UCStlOnS i tributes the most evenly be the 
one best adapted to help you 
control the moisture content of 
your butter? 

Will not this fine salt also be the 
one least liable to cause mottles 
or brine pockets in your butter? 

Scientific tests and practical experience have proven 
time and again that the Worcester Brand is the quickest 
dissolving butter salt. 

Its crystals are very fine in grain and remarkably 
alike in shape and size. They afford the maximum of 
surface on which the moisture in your butter can act. 

Combined with these advantages the peculiarly sweet 
and pleasant flavor of Worcester Salt makes it 100% 
efficient. 

That is why it is the favorite Brand of buttermakers 
everywhere. They know 



IT TAKES THE 
TO MAKE THE 



BEST 
Worcester Salt Co. 

LARGEST PRODUCERS OF HIGH GRADE SALT IN THE WORLD 
New York 

FACTORIES: OFFICES: 

Silver Springs, N. Y. Boston, Philadelphia 

Ecorse, Mich. Chicago, Columbus, Detroit 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



DDODflflST^l? 



